Transport PIF agrees to buy 15% stake in London’s Heathrow airport By Pramod Kumar June 17, 2024, 4:24 AM REUTERS/Henry Nicholls Passengers queue inside the departures of Terminal 2 at Heathrow Airport in London on June 27, 2022 Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Paris-headquartered private equity fund Ardian have agreed to buy Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial’s 37.6 percent stake in London’s Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport. Under the agreement, PIF and Ardian will acquire 15 percent and 22.6 percent, respectively, of FGP Topco, the parent company of Heathrow Airport Holdings, for a total of £3.3 billion ($4.1 billion). Ferrovial will retain a 5.25 percent stake. Ferrovial said the agreement is subject to conditions, adding that the transaction entered into was not certain to be completed. In November 2023, Ferrovial announced an agreement to sell its entire 25 percent stake for £2.4 billion, valuing the whole airport at £9.5 billion. The new deal, however, values Heathrow at £8.7 billion. Qatar already holds 20 percent of Heathrow’s capital, while smaller investors Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Singapore’s GIC sovereign fund and the Australian Retirement Trust each have stakes below 13 percent. In February, Bloomberg reported that Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company was studying the possibility of acquiring a stake in Heathrow. Ferrovial has held a stake in Heathrow since 2006, when it acquired a majority of the airport for around $20 billion. Over time, the company has progressively reduced its stake.
