Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has sold a 50.01 stake in Gatwick to Vinci Airports for £2.9bn, retaining a 49.99% share for itself.
In the year ended 31st March 2018, Gatwick Airport Group reported total revenue of £764.2m, with EBITDA of £411.2m.
GIP will maintain its role in the management and ownership of the airport. The transaction does not include Edinburgh Airport, which GIP also owns.
Vinci said that the acquisition represented “a major strategic move by Vinci Airports into a strongly performing airport located in a globally significant aviation market”. It said that Gatwick would now be the largest of its 46 airports around the world.
Gatwick chairman Sir David Higgins said: “We very much welcome this commitment from Vinci Airports to Gatwick which is a vote of confidence in Gatwick and its future potential.”
Chief executive Stewart Wingate added: “Our chairman and I, along with our senior management team, will all remain at Gatwick and look forward to improving services further for our passengers. There will be no changes to the immediate running of Gatwick and we expect the transaction to complete by the middle of next year.”
Vinci Airports president Nicolas Notebaert said: “Creating synergies and sharing best practices being at the core of our values, the whole Vinci Airports network will benefit from Gatwick Airport’s world-class management and operational excellence, which has allowed it to deliver strong and steady growth in a very constrained environment. As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience.”
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