Ferrovial starts the divestment process of a minority stake in BAA

Initially, the proposed transaction is to divest 10 per cent of the equity in FGP Topco, parent company of BAA. Ferrovial currently holds, indirectly, 55.87% of BAA, the rest of the equity being held by Britannia Airport Partners LP (26.48%) and GIC (17.65%).

Íñigo Meirás, Chief Executive Officer of Ferrovial, said: We have taken the decision to go to the market to sell a minority stake of BAAs capital, though the completion of any sale will depend on the offers received. The process that we have initiated is in line with our strategy to establish a market valuation of our assets. Heathrow is one of the best infrastructure assets in the world and its resilience has been proven by its performance in the current economic circumstances. We would like to underline that our commitment as a long term investor in BAA remains in place.

Ferrovial intends to use the proceeds of the transaction on other new infrastructure and services projects and to pay down corporate debt, as has been the case with proceeds from recent disposals.

A consortium formed by Ferrovial acquired BAA in the year 2006. BAA operates Heathrow and Stansted airports in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports in Scotland, and Southampton airport in the south of England. It is estimated that BAA handles 1 million flights annually; around 110 million passengers use its airport premises every year. BAA provides services to 240 airlines and has 80,000 square meters of retail space. In addition, BAA has an investment programme of approximately 1 billion pounds per year.