Rigby buys 60% stake in Exeter Airport

SIR Peter Rigby’s Patriot Aerospace Group has bought a 60% stake in Exeter Airport from construction firm Balfour Beatty.

Rigby, who runs Birmingham-based IT business Specialist Computer Holdings (SCH) and is chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, already owns Coventry Airport.

Patriot Aerospace is the aviation division of his Rigby Group PLC.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Balfour Beatty said the proceeds from the sale will be used to repay the funders. The value of the deal is undisclosed.

Balfour Beatty chief executive Andrew McNaughton said: “We are pleased to have come to an arrangement with our JV partner and the funders that ensures the future viability of the airport for its staff and the local community it serves.”

The construction company led a buy-out of Exeter Airport from Devon County Council for £60m in 2007.

In August last year, the firm wrote down the value of its holding in Exeter Airport from £12m to zero, saying that “whilst underlying trading has not deteriorated we believe that the timing for recovery of passenger numbers has gone further out”.

The remaining stake in the airport is held by Galaxy, a specialist fund backed by French and Italian investors and the European Commission.

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