London Docklands airport auction attracts overseas bidders
Published September 8th, 2006
UK Auction Info
London City could be the next British airport to fall into foreign hands as the shortlist of around six bidders includes only one UK company.
Construction group Balfour Beatty has teamed up with US bank Merrill Lynch to bid for the Docklands airport, which handled almost 2m passengers last year.
London City airport could fall into foreign hands
The second round of the auction, being handled by Morgan Stanley, closes on Tuesday. Sources believe offers will need to be pitched at £650m-£700m to have any chance of landing the airport.
That is higher than initial valuations of £600m in May when the airport’s owner, Dermot Desmond, put the business up for sale. Mr Desmond, one of Ireland’s richest men, stands to make a fortune from any sale. He bought the airport in 1995 from builder Mowlem for just £23.5m.
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