London City Airport sale

Following the report in Business Travel News (see  BTN  10 August) majority owner Investment Fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), have picked Credit Suisse to advise them on a potential sale of the aviation hub valued at £2bn, according to media reports.

There are now strong rumours of interest from Kuwait Investment Authority and Australian finance group Macquarie, a long time investor in British airports. The sale could go through by the year end or early into 2016.

GIP was founded in 2006 by Credit Suisse, General Electric and its management team to focus on infrastructure investments globally.

The fund bought London City Airport in 2006 for £742m and holds 75%, while the rest is held by Oaktree Capital Management. 

Earlier this month, Michael McGhee, Director of GIP, told  The Financial Times  that market demand for quality airports was "very high" and added there were no plans to sell Gatwick or Edinburgh airports which it also owns.

The London Evening Standard  (see COMMENT) reported last week that Mayor Boris Johnson had appropriated £525,000 of City Hall funds to try and stop the airport’s proposed extension, a development approved by the local council and by the technical team at City Hall.  www.londoncityairport.com

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