Canadian fund plans to reduce stake in Birmingham Airport
The private sector investor in Birmingham Airport is looking to sell a minority stake to take advantage of its current attractiveness.
Canadian fund Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), which has net assets of around £100bn, is in the early stages of exploring a sale of part of its holdings in Birmingham and Bristol Airports.
It first invested in Birmingham Airport in 2001, and further invested in 2007. At the end of 2014 it bought a further 19% of Birmingham Airport to increase its stake to 48.25%.
The seven local authorities in the West Midlands have 49% while the balance is held by an employee share trust.
OTPP declined to comment, but a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to TheBusinessDesk.com that the fund has begun to look at its options.
“This is not an indication of Teachers’ not being committed to the UK,” he said. “It is a reflection of the current market sentiment.
“There is a huge degree of interest in owning aviation assets in the UK.”
OTPP is understood to be at an early stage in its considerations, with no decision yet made on the size of the stake it is looking to sell.
Birmingham Airport is enjoying significant passenger growth, attracting a record 11.6m passengers last year, which was up 14% on 2015. It is investing £100m in its terminal facilities and infrastructure before this summer.
