ts called a compulsory purchase, or even nationalisation - an established political procedure. The whole of BAA is only about £4 billion (from October share sale), so about £2 bn would secure LHR.
Silver,
That is exactly why I referred to LHR as a 'not operationally compulsory' purchase - in other words, LHR does not have to close for S/B Island to function.
Therefore, the proposition is a commercial one - SBI needs LHR out of the way to be viable, but FGP will take one of two actions - either they will fight it in the courts, dragging on for years, or they will say ok, yes, you can buy us out, but you have to pay top whack.
Where do you get the £4bn figure from? BAA was delisted in 06 at £10bn. T5 alone cost £4.2bn, and is a going concern. True, market has seen better days, but LHR traffic still holding up, even if malls may be suffering a bit.
Now the city is well accustomed with the concept of buying businesses and asset stripping or evaluating their component parts as being worth more than the sum of the whole, but I put it to you that LHR is very much a going concern, and worth more open than closed.
If LHR took up the kind of space that RUH or DEN do, then fine - you can fit Manhattan into the space these places take up, but LHR just isn't like that, hence the reason why it is difficult to expand. Central Area + T5 + 2 runways either side + T4 outside this is a very compact model indeed. There might be some land around the airport currently used for parking that could be better used, but that is no concern of SBI Operating Holdings Ltd / PLC.
The development and sale of LHR would gain £12 bn according to Foster, but I think it would be more than this.
Where did he say this, and what makes you think his figures would be so conservative - he will have commercial property consultants on his team, and he will want to give an optimistic figure to make his plan look workable.
I'm just not convinced that terminal building recycle easily into other structures - not the same as stations, where huge vaulted roofs can house conference / concert facilities (M-Central), Museums (Orsay, Paris) etc etc.
If that means the whole site gets flattened, including his mate Lord Rogers' T5, then I'm sure Foster would be delighted!