Spanish firm poised for £550m Luton Airport deal

A Spanish company best known for running toll roads looked set today to acquire the owner of Luton airport in a deal worth £551m (€788m).

TBI, which has backed a sale to infrastructure company Abertis and a minority partner, believes the change in ownership will give it the firepower to better develop its airport assets, which also include Belfast international airport.

The proposed deal provides a £100m (€143m) windfall for chairman Stanley Thomas and his family, who own almost 20% of TBI after he set up the business as a South Wales property company.

It acquired Cardiff airport in 1994 and a majority stake in Luton – a major low-cost hub – in 2001.

TBI recently began a £30m (€43m) expansion at Luton but today’s deal could enable it to pursue further redevelopment opportunities, in particular to accommodate the needs of budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair.

An Abertis spokesman said it was too early to comment on its plans for the TBI portfolio, which also includes Stockholm Skavsta and Orlando Sanford.

It intends to keep the existing TBI management team in place.

The Spanish infrastructure company manages more than 930 miles of toll roads but only has limited airport interests – currently based around the operation of two runways at Colombia’s international airport.

However, it will be able to count on the support of its minority partner Aena International, which owns 10% of the acquisition vehicle bidding for TBI.

Spain-based Aena is one of the world’s largest airport operators with a domestic network of 47 airports handling 153 million passengers a year.

TBI chief executive Keith Brooks described the offer as “highly attractive” to shareholders and staff.

He added: “Employees will be joining an enlarged group with international scale and financial strength that is ideally placed to accelerate the development and realise the full potential of TBI’s airport assets.”

The terms of the offer – representing a 22% jump on TBI’s closing price prior to news of possible bid interest last week – have been backed by the company’s board but still require the support of shareholders.

It is less than a year since German construction company Hochtief said it was considering an approach for TBI. It pulled out in January without any talks taking place.

In 2001, French construction company Vinci had appeared set to buy TBI, but the deal collapsed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.