TBI agrees £550m takeover
The regional airports operator TBI has agreed a £550 million takeover by the Spanish group Abertis, after several days of speculation.
According to the This is London website, TBI said that Airport Concessions and Development Ltd, which is 90 per cent owned by the Spanish firm, is offering 92.5p per share; the price was 89.25p on London’s equity markets at the close of business yesterday.
TBI, which owns eight airports including Luton, Cardiff and Belfast, reportedly confirmed that directors and shareholders owning nearly 30 per cent of the company’s stock had agreed to accept the offer.
Chief executive Keith Brooks is quoted as saying: “Shareholders will benefit from a cash offer that represents a full and fair value.”
He said on the TBI website: “Employees will be joining an enlarged group with international scale and financial strength that is ideally placed to accelerate the development and realise the full potential of TBI’s airport assets.”
Abertis manages some 1,500 km of tolled roads in Europe and is listed on the four main Spanish stock exchanges.
A spokesman for the company said: “The acquisition of TBI is an important step for the development of Abertis’s position as a leading infrastructure operator. This acquisition will provide our airport business with critical mass and is a further step towards our strategy of expanding across the whole range of infrastructure businesses.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd, and Phil Davies
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