Hostile bid on cards for BAA

AUSTRALIA'S Macquarie Bank is poised to team up with Spain's Grupo Ferrovial SA to launch a hostile bid for British airports operator BAA plc.

According to weekend reports, a bid for BAA - which owns London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports - would be on the table within days.

"Macquarie and Ferrovial are natural allies. A memorandum of understanding cannot be far away," it quoted an unnamed City of London source as saying.