Canadian pension funds and the Kuwait Investment Authority have bought London City Airport.
The Alberta Investment Management Corporation, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan joined Kuwait’s Wren House Infrastructure Management in the deal.
A figure for the investment was not disclosed, although the airport is reportedly worth as much as £2bn ($2.8bn).
The consortium said London City Airport was a “premium infrastructure company, operating in a very attractive market”.
Credit Suisse’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) said it grew passenger numbers from 2m in 2005 to 4.3m last year.
The airport, near Canary Wharf, was sold by Oaktree’s infrastructure fund manager, Highstar Capital and GIP – almost 10 years after the latter entered a 50/50 joint venture with AIG to buy the asset from Dermot Desmond.
OMERS is investing through its infrastructure arm Borealis, which previously teamed up with Ontario Teachers on the UK’s High Speed 1 rail track project.
For Ontario Teachers, the deal follows its move to take full control of Bristol Airport in late 2014, having previously held a 49% stake.
Ontario Teachers swapped its 11% stake in Sydney’s airport for 30% and 39% stakes in Copenhagen and Brussels airports, respectively, in 2011.
Topics
- Alberta Investment Management Corporation
- Canadian Investors
- Europe
- Global Infrastructure Partners
- Infrastructure
- Investment Vehicles
- Investors
- Joint ventures
- KIA
- Kuwait
- Middle Eastern Investors
- North American Investors
- Oaktree
- Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
- Pension Funds
- Real Estate
- UK
- Wren House Infrastructure Management