BAA might be forced to sell one of their airports if the company, which owns Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick, is unable to complete the refinancing of its £10 billion debts. Experts believe that Gatwick Airport is the most likely to be put up for sale and that it could fetch up to £2 billion.
BAA could also be forced to sell one of its airports by the competition commission, who said that the firm "dominates the airports markets in the South East of England and in lowland Scotland." The Commission is expected to make a decision over whether BAA can keep all three of its airports in August.
MAG - the Manchester Airports group - is the largest UK-based airport operator in the country and currently owns Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports. The company has expressed an interest in purchasing Gatwick if it is put up for sale. Geoff Muirhead, chief executive of MAG, said: "We'd be interested in any assets that come up, on the premise that we feel we could improve the performance of the group on the back of it, at a price that was sensible."
BAA, which operates Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, need the money desperately - they had their credit rating reduced to just one notch above junk last month. However, the Spanish-owned business said that its investors had already agreed to give them an extra £400 million in funding. This extra cash should hopefully improve the company's poor credit rating, which will make them a more attractive prospect for investors. This will prove vital when it comes to securing their refinancing.
In addition to having a poor credit rating, BAA is also struggling to complete refinancing due to poor economic conditions caused by the global credit crunch. As a spokesperson said: "BAA may not ultimately be in such a position [to begin negotiations] owing to continuing challenging market conditions."
However, despite concerns that the company will not be able to complete the refinancing of their debt, a BAA spokesperson was keen to state that they were sticking to their original refinancing timetable. If they manage to achieve this, the company should see refinancing completed by the end of the third quarter.
Ferrovial owns most of BAA; they are a Spanish company with a 62 per cent majority share in the business. The other shares are split between Caisse de Dépôt et Placement de Québec and GIC - a Singapore sovereign wealth fund.
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