BAA announces sale of Edinburgh Airport to Global Infrastructure Partners

UK's BAA announced (23-Apr-2012) it has agreed to sell its 100% interest in Edinburgh Airport Limited to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a cash consideration of GBP807.2 million, with the sale approved by the UK Competition Commission. The sale price is payable in full at closing. The sale is expected to close by the end of May-2012. GIP chairman and MD Adebayo Ogunlesi commented: "Edinburgh Airport is a high quality infrastructure asset. Its acquisition is a landmark deal for GIP and represents the first investment by GIP II. We see significant opportunity to apply our tested and successful operational expertise and our knowledge of the global airports sector to develop and enhance the performance of Edinburgh Airport in years to come." GIP's financial adviser in this transaction was RBS. Slaughter and May were GIP's legal advisers. GIP, which acquired London Gatwick for BAA in Dec-2009 for GBP1.5 billion and also owns London City Airport, has been vying with a consortium led by JP Morgan's infrastructure fund to acquire the asset. The price, at in excess of GBP800 million and a little more than half what GIP paid for London Gatwick Airport in 2009, is high at over 16 times earnings, recent transactions having been more in the order of 12-13 times. This reflects Edinburgh's growth profile, balanced traffic mix and expansion potential. The price is, however, well below the 30 times earnings level reached in the pre-recession mid-2000s. The sale will also offer some comfort to Infratil, which wants to sell Glasgow Prestwick Airport, despite the profile differences of the two airports. [more - original PR - Global Infrastructure Partners] [more - original PR - London Gatwick] [more - original PR - BAA] [more - original PR - UK Competition Commission]