01/11/2012

China Sovereign Wealth Fund Buys Heathrow Airport Stake

China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, now owns a 10% stake in the firm that owns five UK airports including London's Heathrow.

Under the terms of the agreement CIC will pay £450m ($726m) for a 10% stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd, which was previously known as BAA Ltd.

The fund will buy a 5.7% stake in FGP Topco Ltd (he holding company which owns Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd) from Spanish firm Ferrovial for £257.4m.

The remaining 4.3% stake will come from other shareholders of FGP Topco Ltd at a cost of £192.6m.

Heathrow Airport Holdings' other UK airports include Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

"It is fair to say that the UK has a more open relationship with China than many other major economies," Stephen Joske, senior manager at Australia Super, a pension fund based in Beijing, told the BBC.

"There is certainly push all around the world for scrutiny of Chinese investment - it has been ringing alarm bells.

"It is unfair to an extent, as these deals are a win-win transaction. Politics has been overshadowing economics."

(GK)

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