GIP Consortium to Sell Majority Interest in London’s Gatwick Airport for $3.7B
A Global Infrastructure Partners consortium acquired its stake in Gatwick Airport in 2009 for GBP 1.51 billion ($2.5 billion). GIP will manage the remaining 49.99% interest in the airport once the deal with VINCI Airports is finalized.
LONDON—Paris-based VINCI Airports reports it has signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake (50.1%) in Gatwick Airport (LGW) here for approximately $3.7 billion (GBP 2.9 billion) from a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners of New York City.
VINCI Airports in an announcement states it is pleased to partner with Global Infrastructure Partners and “to benefit from its deep experience and expertise with the airport since 2009.” VINCI Airports is a subsidiary of VINCI Concessions. The deal with current shareholders of Gatwick Airport Limited, a freehold property airport, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.
A Global Infrastructure Partners-led consortium acquired its stake in Gatwick Airport in 2009 for GBP 1.51 billion ($2.5 billion). GIP will manage the remaining 49.99% interest in the airport once the deal with VINCI Airports is finalized.
In the year ended 31 March 2018, Gatwick Airport Group reported total revenue of GBP 764.2 million ($966.25 million), with EBITDA of GBP 411.2 million ($519.92 million). Gatwick Airport is the second largest airport in the UK and eighth busiest in Europe, with total traffic of 45.7 million in 2018.
The transaction will expand VINCI Airports’ network to 46 airports in 12 countries. LGW is strategically located south of London and serves 228 destinations in 74 countries. It has strong relationships with some leading airlines including EasyJet and British Airways and has built new relationships with other carriers such as China Eastern. LGW operates the busiest single runway in the world. In 2017, it hit a world record of 950 flights in a day.
In August of this year, VINCI Airports finalized the acquisition of the airport portfolio held by Airports Worldwide. The deal made VINCI Airports the new operator of eight new platforms—including Orlando-Sanford International Airport in Florida with a 100% stake through a concession contract and Hollywood Burbank Airport and Ontario International Airport in California, Macon Downtown Airport and Middle Georgia Regional Airport in Georgia through full management contracts.
The firm also acquired a 100% stake in Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland and Skavsta Airport near Stockholm, Sweden, owned at a 90% stake, through freehold property contracts; Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia (Costa Rica) was purchased with a 45% stake, through a concession contract.
The firm’s airport worldwide portfolio also includes partial management contracts for three additional North American airports: Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey, Raleigh Durham International Airport in North Carolina, and part of the international terminal at the airport in Atlanta, (Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport), the world’s largest airport in terms of traffic.
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and president of VINCI Airports, says of its Gatwick Airport investment, “Creating synergies and sharing best practices being at the core of our values, the whole VINCI Airports network will benefit from Gatwick Airport’s world-class management and operational excellence, which has allowed it to deliver strong and steady growth in a very constrained environment. 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 notes that LGW has a draft master plan to accommodate growing demand for air traffic through best use of its existing runway and an innovative potential proposal to further utilize its standby runway.