Investors from Saudi Arabia and France to take larger Heathrow slice
- PIF and Ardian have offered to buy 37.6% of the West London airport
Investors from Saudi Arabia and France are set to take a bigger slice of Heathrow as shareholders sell their stakes.
Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF and French private equity group Ardian have offered to buy 37.6 per cent of the West London airport for £3.26billion.
The pair initially agreed to buy the 25 per cent stake being sold by Spanish group Ferrovial for £2.4billion. But with some of Heathrow’s other shareholders selling up, they are buying more.
A bigger slice: Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF and French private equity group Ardian have offered to buy 37.6 per cent of the airport
The deal will see Ardian own 22.6 per cent of the airport while Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund will hold 15 per cent. Ferrovial will maintain a 5.25 per cent stake. Ardian said the agreement ‘reiterates its strong commitment to investing the UK’.
The French fund earlier this year struck a deal with investment company Digital 9 Infrastructure to buy the data centre and wireless network investor’s crown jewel Verne Global for around £450million.
Ardian bought a 49 per cent stake in London Luton Airport in 2013 before selling its holding to the investment manager AMP Capital in 2018.
Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund bought an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle United football club for £300million in 2021 and has increased its investment in golf.
