Arora Family Trust (AFT) has agreed to acquire three development properties from Airport Property Partnership, a joint venture between the UK airport group BAA and asset manager Morley, for £73mln (EUR 92.5mln). Back in March Arora agreed to buy over 30 properties from the joint venture for £265mln. It was reported at the time that APP had hoped to sell its £1.2bn in property assets in one portfolio but was unable to do so due to the turbulence in the financial markets.
Arora Family Trust (AFT) has agreed to acquire three development properties from Airport Property Partnership, a joint venture between the UK airport group BAA and asset manager Morley, for £73mln (EUR 92.5mln). Back in March Arora agreed to buy over 30 properties from the joint venture for £265mln. It was reported at the time that APP had hoped to sell its £1.2bn in property assets in one portfolio but was unable to do so due to the turbulence in the financial markets.
The combined sale is one of the largest investment transactions in the UK this year. Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking, Ireland's AIB Group and Abbey National Treasury Services provided the financing.
APP had been seeking to sell its entire non-core portfolio to help re-finance the massive £10bn in debt incurred when Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial acquired BAA, formerly the British Airports Authority, two years ago. However, BAA announced on Monday that it had successfully completed the £13.3 billion refinancing of its UK airports.
Colin Matthews, CEO of BAA, said: 'The successful completion of the refinancing and establishment of the long-term funding platform ensures that BAA has the right financial structure to deliver our ambitious investment programme to expand airport capacity, build new facilities and provide a better service to passengers and airlines.'
