Qatar Holding will buy an indirect minority stake in BAA from Britannia Airport Partners, Ferrovial and GIC for £900 million ($1.4 billion).
The subsidiary of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority will buy 20% of FGP Topco, which owns BAA, it says in a statement today. The sale is split between 5.63% from Britannia, 10.62% from Ferrovial and 3.75% from GIC.
Qatar says that the deal will further diversify its investments in the infrastructure sector and maintains that there is "there is long-term fundamental strength" in the UK economy, in a statement.
BAA owns Aberdeen, Glasgow, London's Heathrow and Stansted, and Southampton airports.
"The sale of this stake in BAA is part of Ferrovial's strategy of establishing a market valuation of our assets and improving the structure of our investment portfolio," says Inigo Meiras, chief executive of Ferrovial, in a statement. "After this transaction we wish to reaffirm our role as an industrial investor in BAA."
The deal is subject to regulator approval.
Barclays is financial adviser to Qatar.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news