MAG’s prospects of Stansted swoop lifted

MANCHESTER Airports Group’s prospects of buying Stansted Airport have been boosted after BAA lost a legal challenge to a ruling ordering it to sell the asset on competition grounds.

MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish declared his interest in a major acquisition last month, and the group is also open to the idea of selling a stake to an investment partner to raise finance for a possible bid.

Spanish-owned BAA, owner of Heathrow, appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal into a ruling in 2009 by the Competition Commission that it would be in the best interests of consumers if BAA sold three airports.

Since then it has sold Gatwick and is in the midst of selling Edinburgh. It tried to persuade the CAT that the commercial landscape has changed since 2009, and that Stansted – the UK’s fourth largest airport – serves a different market to Heathrow, its international hub.

In a brief statement in response to the ruling BAA said: “We are disappointed by the decision of the Competition Appeal Tribunal which we will now carefully consider before making any further statements.”

A spokesperson for the Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said: “We currently remain focussed on growing our existing airports and developing the £650m Airport City project for Manchester.

“The airport group has always stated that we may look at an acquisition in more detail if we can be confident that it will add value for our shareholders.”