In December 2024, Ardian already acquired 22.6% of the asset while Saudi Arabia’s The Public Investment Fund (PIF) purchased a 15%
Paris-based pan European alternative assets giant Ardian said that now has a 32.6% stake in London’s Heathrow Airport Holdings Ltd. In December 2024, the fund acquired a 22.6% of the asset while The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, purchased a 15% (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Ardian signed a binding agreement for acquiring a 10% in FGP Topco Ltd (TopCo), the owner of Heathrow Airport Holdings, from Ferrovial SE, a Spanish global manager of airports, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and other shareholders.
At the end of 2023, Ardian announced its investment in TopCo while Ferrovial said it was going to sell its 25% in the asset for 2.368 billion GBPs after having written off the book value of the company for the covid-19 turmoil. Ferrovial sold 15% to Ardian and 10% to PIF with two separate deals (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The parties subsequently changed the deal. In January 2024, some shareholders of TopCo exercised their tag along rights for 35% of the business (see here the press release). Ardian then signed a new agreement to acquire little less than 22.6% of TopCo from Ferrovial, CDPQ and Universities Superannuation Scheme, while PIF committed to buy 15% of the business through separate vehicles.
Heathrow Airport’s website previously said that TopCo belonged to: Ardian (22.61%), Qatar Investment Authority (20%), Public Investment Fund (15.01%), GIC (11.20%), Australian Retirement Trust (11.18%), China Investment Corporation (10%), Ferrovial sa (5.25%), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (2.65%), and Universities Superannuation Scheme (2.10%).
On 12 February, Wednesday, Heathrow launched Gateway to Growth, a multibillion investment plan.
Mathias Burghardt, Ardian’s executive vice president, ceo of Ardian France and Founder & Head di Ardian Infrastructure, said: “Since becoming Heathrow’s largest shareholder in December [2024], the airport continued to perform strongly, with 83.9 million passengers. We look forward to working with our shareholders, Heathrow’s management team and the UK authorities to realise our shared ambition of sustainable growth of this iconic infrastructure. Investment in Heathrow will bring economic benefits to the whole country. We are passionate about infrastructure and the role it plays in driving growth while supporting the transition to net zero. The deal is a further sign of our strong commitment to investing in essential infrastructure in the UK.”
Juan Angoitia, co-head of Ardian Infrastructure Europe, added: “The strong demand for aviation is supporting Heathrow’s growth. We believe that there are ways to build, expand and grow sustainably and we will explore these with all stakeholders”.
