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The carve up of London's second biggest airport continued today with the announcement of The Abu Dhabi groups 15% purchase of Gatwick. Earlier this week, South Korea’s National Pension Service took a 12% from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), who bought the transport hub for £1.5bn last year after BAA were forced to sell by the Competitions Commission. GIP, who also own London City Airport, intends to maintain overall control, in spite of selling off minority stakes. The move by world's largest sovereign wealth fund, is seen as an attempt to re-establish itself after it was stung for over $7bn by the Citigroup fiasco. Sources say the group paid around £125 million pounds for the stake. A spokesman for Global Infrastructure Partners declined to comment. South Korea's National Pension Service is thought to have paid nearly £100million pounds for its 12%. GIP, a consortium of investment bank Credit Suisse, has based their business plan on securing a second runway. Airlines have long complained that the Surrey airport Gatwick had been starved of investment.
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