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Gatwick airport sold to French group Gatwick airport sold to French group
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US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is selling a majority stake in Gatwick Airport for £2.9bn. A controlling stake in Gatwick, the UK’s second-biggest airport, is being sold to the French group Vinci Airports for £2.9bn.
The UK’s second-biggest airport was bought by a GIP-led consortium in 2009, which will sell a 50.01% stake to Vinci Airports. The US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is selling a majority stake of 50.01% to Vinci. GIP bought Gatwick from the airports operator BAA for £1.5bn in 2009 and spent £1.9bn modernising the airport during its ownership.
The airport, the eighth-busiest in Europe by passenger numbers, was heavily disrupted in the runup to Christmas after reports of drone sightings closed its runway. Gatwick, the eighth-busiest in Europe by passenger numbers, was heavily disrupted in the runup to Christmas after drone sightings closed its runway, affecting more than 100,000 passengers. The airport resumed flights on Friday and has invested £5m in a range of anti-drone technologies over the past few days. Gatwick said there was no single commercial solution available for the type of drone activity seen last week.
Vinci Airports have a network of 46 airports, including Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport, Nantes Atlantique and Grenoble Alpes Isère in France; Lisbon, Porto and Funchal in Portugal, and Osaka Itami and Kansai International in Japan. Gatwick will be the largest in Vinci’s portfolio of 46 airports spread across 12 countries. The French group’s network includes Lyon-Saint-Exupéry Airport, Nantes Atlantique and Grenoble Alpes Isère in France; Lisbon, Porto and Funchal in Portugal, and Osaka Itami and Kansai International in Japan.
Michael McGhee, GIP partner, said: “We expect the transaction to be completed by the middle of next year, with the senior leadership team remaining in place. Gatwick’s chairman, Sir David Higgins, said the deal was a “vote of confidence in Gatwick and its future potential”. He will stay on, along with the chief executive, Stewart Wingate, who said there would be no changes to the immediate running of the airport. Gatwick employs about 3,000 people and the deal is not expected to have any impact on jobs.
GIP partner Michael McGhee said: “We expect the transaction to be completed by the middle of next year, with the senior leadership team remaining in place.
“Their focus, along with everyone at Gatwick, obviously remains on doing their very best for customers over the busy holiday period after the challenges of recent days.”“Their focus, along with everyone at Gatwick, obviously remains on doing their very best for customers over the busy holiday period after the challenges of recent days.”
Nicolas Notebaert, president of Vinci Airports, said: “As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience.” Vinci’s president, Nicolas Notebaert, said: “As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience.”
More details to follow soon … Gatwick operates the busiest single runway in the world and serves 228 destinations in 74 countries. The airport’s new owner vowed to push ahead with the current investment programme.
The airport handles about 46m passengers a year, up from 32m at the time of its previous sale. A decade ago, BAA, owned by the Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, was ordered by the Competition commission to sell Gatwick amid concerns over its dominance of the airport market. The deal ended BAA’s four-decade long monopoly over the capital’s major airports.
GIP owns Edinburgh airport and owned London City airport for a decade until 2016. The infrastructure group also recently acquired a 50% stake of the UK’s largest offshore windfarm, Orsted’s Hornsea 1.
Gatwick reported revenues of £764.2m for the year to 31 March, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £411.2m.
Airline industryAirline industry
Travel & leisureTravel & leisure
TransportTransport
Mergers and acquisitionsMergers and acquisitions
FranceFrance
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