Birmingham Airport Press Release
SALE OF AER RIANTA AND MACQUARIE SHARES
IN BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Birmingham International Airport (BIA) today welcomed the
announcement of a preferred bidder for the 48.25% of shares
in the company offered for sale by Aer Rianta International
and Macquarie Airports Group.
The preferred bidder - the Airport Group Investments Limited,
(AGIL) a limited company owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan and Victorian Funds Management Corporation – made an
unconditional offer of £420m for the 48.25% joint holding.
Aer Rianta and Macquarie have accepted the offer.
Airport Group Investments Limited will now open discussions
with the seven West Midlands Districts who retain pre-emption
rights.
BIA also acknowledged the continuing commitment of the seven
West Midland District Councils, the Airport's main shareholders,
to ensure that BIA continues to play a fundamental role in the
economic success of the Region.
Back in 1996 there were just 5.4 million passengers travelling
through BIA – compared with 9.3 million in 2006. Such tremendous
growth has only been achieved with the support of the shareholders
working in partnership enabling BIA to provide the additional
capacity and facilities demanded by the region.
The Airport Group Investments Limited has already committed to
progressing the runway extension which will create global links
that will further develop the region's competitiveness on the
World stage.
BIA's Acting Managing Director, Joe Kelly, said: "Under the
current public/private partnership shareholding arrangements,
Birmingham International Airport has grown and developed
tremendously over the last ten years. The Airport now supports
some 11,000 jobs and directly contributes over £220m per annum
to the Midlands economy. The Airport plays a pivotal role in
providing international connectivity vital to supporting and
developing other businesses and inward investment into the wider
Midlands region. All this continues to be achieved in a
sustainable manner, with some of the strictest environmental
policies of any airport in the UK."
Notes to Editors:
BIA Ltd is a public/private partnership established in 1997.
The seven West Midland District Councils (Birmingham, Solihull,
Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton) are the
principal shareholders of Birmingham Airport, with a 49%
shareholding.
About The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is one of the largest public
pension plans in Canada with $106 billion in net assets. An
independent organization, it invests the pension fund's assets
and administers the pensions of 271,000 active and retired
teachers in Ontario. Its infrastructure group focuses on the
acquisition and long-term retention of low-risk assets that
generate stable returns linked to inflation. Teachers' has a
diversified portfolio of global investments in public and
private companies; government and corporate bonds; hedge funds;
real estate; and inflation-sensitive investments that include
infrastructure and timberlands.
About Victorian Funds Management Corporation
VFMC is based in Melbourne, Australia, and manages investments
on behalf of Victorian Government entities, including pension
funds, insurance funds and endowments for hospitals and
universities within Victoria. VFMC was founded by an act of
State Parliament and reports to the Treasurer of Victoria
through the Department of Treasury and Finance. It currently
manages assets totalling more than A$40 billion (£17bn). The
benefits of VFMC's investment decisions effectively accrue to
the citizens and employees of the State of Victoria.
BIA is the UK's second largest airport outside London, the third
largest for charter traffic, and the UK's sixth largest overall.
In 2006, BIA handled 9,153,047 a decrease of 2.5% on 2005.
BIA has just completed a major (£30m) phase of investment and
development in new passenger facilities including major new Duty
Free and other shops, new Frankie & Benny's, Yates, and other
catering outlets, new automated check-in facilities, new
Immigration Hall and Baggage System.
BIA has received a National Clean Air Awards, from the Roy Castle
Lung Cancer Foundation, for being the first Airport in England to
become a smoke free zone.
BIA is ideally suited to connect into the UK's surface transport
systems with a recently installed 90sec light rail connection to
Birmingham International Railway Station, which in turn is a major
station on the West Coast Main Railway line with over 200 trains
calling every day. The airport also has a comprehensive network of
bus and coach services with over 250 services from the airport every
day. The M42 Motorway is also less than a kilometre from the airport
with short connections to the M6 and M40 motorways.