US Edition 
Ferrovial sells 5.88pc stake in airports operator BAA
Spanish construction group Ferrovial has sold a 5.88pc in BAA, owner of Heathrow airport, for £280m.
Ferrovial has struck the deal with two investment vehicles managed by Alinda Capital Partners, an infrastructure fund, which means it now controls less than 50pc of BAA.
The Spanish company's stake has been reduced to 49.99pc of the airport group, which also owns Stansted and airports in Scotland, and therefore BAA’s huge debts will no longer be recognised on its balance sheet.
Íñigo Meirás, chief executive of Ferrovial, said: “This sale is in line with our strategy to establish a market valuation of our assets. Heathrow is one of the best infrastructure assets in the world. After this operation, we would like to underline our commitment as a long term investor in BAA remains in place.”
Following the sale, expected to close by the end of this month, Ferrovial's accounts will show about €5.19bn (£4.5bn) of debt against the current €19.75bn.
The company said it will use the proceeds to invest in other projects.
The other shareholders in BAA are GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, which holds 17.65pc, and Britannia Airport Partners which owns 26.48pc and is run by Canada’s biggest pension-fund manager Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec.
The sale values BAA at £4.76bn and comes just days after being told by the Competition Commission to get on with the sale of one of its Scottish airports after delaying the disposal of Stansted with a judicial review. The consortium paid £10.1bn for BAA in 2006, although it sold Gatwick airport in December 2009 for £1.5bn.
The Competition Commission believes BAA has too much control over British airports. The company owns Glasgow and Edinburgh airport, as well as Aberdeen in Scotland.