Speculation surrounding BAA increased today after a report said a private equity group was working on a possible bid for the airports operator.
Star Capital Partners – best known for an unsuccessful £3bn offer for the former Anglian Water Group – is said to be eyeing up an approach for the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and five other sites.
Like Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial, which announced its interest on Wednesday, Star Capital is unlikely to attempt a takeover of BAA on its own. It is not known if the two groups are working together on an approach.
The Times said preparations for the move from Star Capital were at an early stage and that the company – headed by former Invensys chief executive Rick Haythornthwaite – has yet to make a formal approach to BAA.
Today’s report said the interest from Ferrovial and Star Capital could encourage other bidders to come forward, including French group Vinci and Australia’s Macquarie Bank.
Macquarie has reportedly refused to rule itself out of the running, but said it had not been approached to join a consortium.
Ferrovial and Macquarie already have a partnership in the airports sector after their joint venture holding company South West Airports Limited acquired Bristol Airport in January 2001.
They also have stakes in Sydney, Birmingham, Brussels, Rome and Copenhagen airports.
Analysts claim BAA is an attractive proposition due to its range of seven sites, led by Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport.
BAA reported a mixed performance for January yesterday as passenger numbers rose 1.9% after 10.1m people passed through its seven UK sites.
While Heathrow Airport saw a 0.6% reduction in footfall through its terminals, Gatwick was up 2.1% and Stansted ahead 6.9% on a year earlier.
BAA shares were up another 2% to 793.5p, compared with 642.5p at the start of the week.
References: EGi News 10/02/06
