(Bloomberg) — Macquarie Group Ltd. has ruled out purchasing a stake in London’s Heathrow Airport, putting a sale of the UK hub at risk, the Telegraph reported.
The Australian investment firm canceled its acquisition plans last week, the newspaper reported, citing sources it didn’t identify.
A Macquarie spokesperson referred to the firm’s comments made to City A.M. newspaper on March 24, in which the company said it was “not currently considering an acquisition of a stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited.”
Spanish infrastructure company Ferrovial SE agreed in November to sell its 25% stake in Heathrow to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the French buyout firm Ardian for £2.4 billion ($3 billion). However, shareholders accounting for a further 35% of Heathrow’s capital joined the stake sale via so-called tag-along rights, meaning their positions must also be sold for the deal to go through.
There are no other bidders immediately apparent to support Saudi’s PIF and Ardian, the Telegraph reported. That “effectively rules out” Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co., according to the newspaper. Bloomberg reported in February that the sovereign wealth fund was considering buying into the airport.
Heathrow and Ardian declined to comment to the newspaper.
(Updates with Macquarie’s comments in third paragraph.)
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