IFM buys into UK airport operations

Industry Funds Management (IFM) has finalised the acquisition of a 35.5 per cent stake in Manchester Airports Group (M.A.G.), one of the UK's largest airport operators.

The deal took almost 18 months of work according to IFM, including partnering on the acquisition of Stansted Airport which was finalised last week.

M.A.G. will take over the management of Stansted Airport at the end of April. It also operates Manchester, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.

M.A.G. had an integration process in place to ensure transition of ownership and operations were successful and it was business as usual throughout the transfer, according to IFM.

VIEW ALL

View all

IFM global head of infrastructure Kyle Mangini said M.A.G. had an stellar track record in successful airport management. He said the acquisition furthered IFM's strategy of investing in high quality, core infrastructure assets.

In 2011, the Centre for Aviation reported that M.A.G. was making a comeback following four years of declining revenue.

It was benefitting from cost control measures and an increase in commercial (non-aero) revenues, and traffic trends had also picked up over the year.

A reduction in passenger numbers had complicated acquisitions and it had a long way to go to before it reached its 2007 highs, the Centre for Aviation said.

Following the sale of Stansted to M.A.G, low-cost European airline Ryanair announced it would reduce its Stansted traffic by 9 per cent over the coming year due to a fee hike by prior owners Ferrovial/Baa of 6 per cent, which is due to come into effect in April. Ryanair had previously planned to increase its Stansted Airport traffic by 5 per cent in 2013, according to the Centre for Aviation.

IFM is the largest investor in Australian airports, with equity interests in the airports of five major capital cities, it said.