Australian group buys stake in Rome Airport


Macquarie Bank, which is advising the funds involved in the Rome airport deal, led a consortium that agreed to buy Sydney Airport for $3.2 billion three weeks ago

By Jane Searle

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- An Australian consortium is to buy almost 45 percent of Rome Airport for Aust. $842 million (about $471 million).

The consortium is made up of Macquarie Bank's listed airport fund Macquarie Airports (MAp), the Macquarie Global Infrastructure Fund, and the unlisted Macquarie Airports Group (MAG).

The deal covers 44.74 percent of Aeroporti di Roma, which is Italy's largest airport system and Europe's sixth largest.

The Rome airport assets comprise Leonardo Da Vinci and GB Pastine airports, the only commercial airports serving Rome. Together, the airports managed over 26 million passengers last year.

Macquarie Bank acted as adviser to the Macquarie funds in the deal, which comes just three weeks after another consortium led by the bank agreed to buy Sydney Airport for A$5.588 billion ($3.2 billion)(Full Story).

In that deal, Macquarie Airports said it would take a direct 40 percent stake in Sydney Airport.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange Tuesday, Macquarie Airports said it had conditionally agreed to buy a 28 percent interest in Aeroporti di Roma for A$542 million.

Macquarie Airports said the deal would be funded by a A$670 million capital raising, comprising an institutional placement and a priority entitlement offer to existing security holders.

UBS Warburg Australia and Macquarie Equity Capital Markets have jointly underwritten A$645 million of the A$670 million.

Global interests

On completion of the Rome Airport deal, MAp will become one of the world's largest private sector airport investors, with stakes in Rome, Sydney, Bristol and Birmingham.

The four airports handle more than 60 million passengers annually.

Macquarie Airports said Tuesday that the Rome Airport was projected to show earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of A$409.8 million in 2002, rising to A$474.1 million in 2003.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval, including from Italy's anti-trust authority.

On a day when the benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed 1.23 percent lower at 3157.7, shares in Macquarie Bank fell 5.2 percent to A$26.06.

Shares in Macquarie Airports were suspended Tuesday and are expected to resume trading on Thursday morning.

MAp owns a 36.7 per cent stake in the unlisted Macquarie Airports Group (MAG).