The sale of Heathrow Airport is at risk of collapse after major Australian investor Macquarie pulled out of negotiations for the remaining 35 per cent of the airport on the market.
The withdrawal, which leaves few remaining prospective buyers for the transport hub, comes after a six-month-long search for a buyer for the share of the airport that remains on the market.
In November last year, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and private equity firm Ardian joined forces to pick up a 25 per cent stake in Heathrow from Spanish construction company Ferrovial for £2.4bn.
But the move prompted some of the airport’s other owners to trigger what are known as ‘tag-along rights’, which allow minority shareholders to join in on the sale of a business when the majority shareholder sells their stake.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, Macquarie is said to have pulled out on account of the high price set by PIF and Ardian when they picked up a quarter of the business last year. The deal put the price of the company as a whole at £9.5bn; a valuation few others appear willing to meet.
The impasse means the entire sale of Ferrovial’s stake in the airport, including the part which PIF has already bought, could fall through unless a new buyer is found, or the minority shareholders agree to abandon their tag-along rights.
Uncertainty over Heathrow’s ownership, which has hung over the airport since Ferrovial’s sale to PIF, has come at a suboptimal time. The company and its newly appointed CEO, Thomas Woldbye, have struggled to readjust to a travel rebound post-pandemic, reopening scrutiny about the need for a third runway.
Heathrow, Ardian and Macquarie were approached for comment.