International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited on an agreement to sell its 100% interest in Stansted Airport Limited to Manchester Airports Group for £1.5bn. The transaction is expected to close by the end of February 2013.
The Freshfields team was led by partners Laurie McFadden, Marcus Mackenzie, Frank Miller and senior associate Amy Beckingham with support from corporate associates Annie Whiteside, Ross McKay, Richard Johnson and IP/IT Senior Associate Laurence Kalman. The team worked alongside Ferrovial's in-house counsel Juan Bullon and Natalia Marimon as well as Heathrow Airport Holdings general counsel Carol Hui and in-house counsel Hywel Rees.
Laurie said, ‘This successful sale of Stansted is the latest step in BAA's (now Heathrow Airport Holding's) history. We have previously advised Ferrovial on its hostile takeover of BAA and BAA on its subsequent £13.6 billion refinancing, the sale of World Duty Free and the sale of Gatwick as well as advising Ferrovial on a number of deals as part of its investment diversification strategy over the last year.’
This deal demonstrates Freshfields' expertise in the infrastructure sector and strong track record in advising clients in the aviation industry in particular. The firm has a longstanding relationship with Heathrow Airport Holdings, having advised the Ferrovial-led consortium on the acquisition of Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (formerly BAA) in 2006 and subsequently its successful refinancing. The team also advised on the sale of Gatwick Airport to an entity controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51bn.
Ferrovial, the world's leading private investor in transportation infrastructures, has been a client of the firm since 2001. Last year, Freshfields advised Ferrovial on its agreement to sell 10.62% of FGP Topco (the holding company which owns Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited, formerly known as BAA) to Qatar Holding for £478 million. As part of the same transaction, Britannia Airport Partners and GIC also sold to Qatar Holding shares equivalent to 5.63% and 3.75% respectively.
The firm also advised Ferrovial on the disposal of a 5.72% stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings. Stable Investment Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of CIC International, acquired the stake for £257.4 million. As part of the same transaction, Stable acquired additional stakes from other shareholders of FGP Topco for £192.6 million.
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