Just a little bit closer

20 October 2009 By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial postponed the sale of the London airport in May. The conditions for an auction are now more favourable and BAA, the subsidiary that owns Gatwick, is in better shape. Still, that doesn t mean the asset will fetch the £1.6bn its vendor wants.

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Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure group, said its BAA airports subsidiary was in advanced talks with more than one interested party to sell London's Gatwick.

There are two bidders in the running for the airport, including Manchester Airport Group, according to a person familiar with the situation. A consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners, the owner of London's City airport, has lined up debt financing of about £1bn and has bid £1.4bn, according to Bloomberg.

If things pan out as hoped we expect a sale in the next few weeks," said Rafael del Pino, Ferrovial's chairman.

The UK Competition Commission's arbitration tribunal started hearings on October 19 as to whether BAA should be forced to sell three of its airports.

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