Turbulence for Heathrow deal as more investors plan to sell stakes

Heathrow is facing further turbulence after investors accounting for 35% of the airport said they are selling up. Their decision to quit follows Ferrovial’s sale of its 25% stake for £2.37bn to French firm Ardian Capita and PIF at the end of last year. Now three other shareholders have opted to exercise their “tag-along” rights. It is believed those shareholders are Canadian investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, and the Brisbane-based Australian Retirement Trust. Ardian and PIF have first rights to acquire all or part of the 35% of shares now available at a price of £3.3bn. PIF is understood to not want a total stake of more than 10%, while Ardian is likely to cap its stake at 25%. But under the terms of the tag-along arrangement, a failure to find a buyer for the new 35% stake could halt or unwind the Ferrovial deal with Ardian and PIF. The pressure is now on Ardian to find buyers for the shares it does not want. The Times (£)