Heathrow’s shareholders propose additional sale of stake

Heathrow shareholders will sell an additional 35 per cent of the airport’s holding company after Saudi Arabian and French investors last year agreed to buy a stake in the west London transport hub.

Ferrovial, a Spanish infrastructure company, reached an agreement two months ago to sell its 25 per cent stake for $3 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Ardian, a France-based private equity firm.

That deal remains in force, but one of the conditions of the sale is that the other shares are also sold, Ferrovial said, as quoted by

Bloomberg. The so-called “tag along rights” entitle other investors in the airport to sell their shares at the same price as Ferrovial.

Shareholders accounting for an added 35 per cent of Heathrow’s parent company plan to join Ferrovial in the stake sale, the Spanish infrastructure firm said.

The announcement means that more than half of the ownership interest in Europe’s busiest airport is set to change hands in the coming months.

The PIF was originally set to buy a 10 per cent stake in Heathrow’s parent company, and Ardian to take a 15 per cent stake, for a total of £2.37 billion ($3 billion).

The Saudi Arabian wealth

The ‘tag along rights’ entitle other investors in the airport to sell their shares at the same price as Ferrovial

fund intends to stay at 10 per cent while Ardian is considering buying more, according to reports.

Qatar Investment Authority currently owns a 20 per cent stake in Heathrow. Other investors include Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund, and Alinda Capital Partners of the US.

Representatives of Ferrovial and Heathrow declined to identify potential buyers. Ardian and PIF declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Heathrow bosses said the air terminal recorded its busiest December yet, with 6.7 million passengers.

December 22 was the month’s busiest single day, when 250,000 people passed through Heathrow. In December, 744,000 passengers from the Middle East passed through, a rise of 7.8 per cent on an annual basis.

Heathrow also announced that passenger numbers increased by 29 per cent last year to 79.2 million. The market with the biggest increase in passenger numbers was Asia-Pacific, up 76 per cent compared with 2022.