Manchester one of three bidders for £1bn Stansted
MANCHESTER Airports Group was one of three final bidders for Stansted Airport, which is valued at more than £1bn.
Sources close to the deal told Reuters that Australia’s Macquarie and Malaysia Airports are the rivals to MAG, which is bidding with the financial backing of Australian partner IFM.
The winning party could be revealed as early as next week.
Private equity firm TPG and New Zealand investment manager Morrison & Co were previously interested in Stansted but did not submit bids. Stansted is Britain’s fourth largest airport, and it flew 17.4 million passengers last year.
It was put up for sale in August after Heathrow Ltd (formerly known as BAA) was forced by competition regulator to sell off assets and loosen its grip on the UK market.
Stansted was not seen as an easy deal to sell because low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair accounts for about 70% of the airport’s traffic. The airline’s combative approach to pricing is expected to drag down the deal’s value well below other recently sold airports such as Gatwick and Edinburgh.
MAG is seen as the frontrunner, given its sector expertise and financial firepower due to its partnership with IFM. It also has a positive relationship with Ryanair’s senior management.
Some analysts believe Stansted could fetch up to £1.3bn. RBC Capital analyst Olivia Peters told Reuters Stansted could be sold for 95% of its regulated asset base (RAB) – around £1.28bn, or around 14.2 times its ebitda.
