BAA completed the long-awaited £13.3 billion refinancing of its seven UK airports, which it said will provide "a stable, long-term, investment grade financing platform for investment in [London] Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports over the coming decades."
Included is £3 billion of committed facilities to fund immediate investment projects across the seven airports: LHR, STN, LGW, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Aberdeen and Southampton. The refinancing agreement comprises three main elements, including a corporate reorganization to separate financing of the three London airports and the four others into ring-fenced groups.
The deal came just days before the UK Competition Commission announced the findings of its investigation into domestic airport ownership recommending that the British Airports Authority should be forced to sell two of its three London airports and Glasgow or Edinburgh airport.
BAA is owned by Spanish transport giant Ferrovial.