Hochtief Sells Interests in Four Airports for $452M

ESSEN, GERMANY-In a deal valued at EUR$343 million (US$452 million), locally headquartered Hochtief AirPort GmbH has signed agreements with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Canada), KfW IPEX-Bank (Germany) and two funds managed by Hastings Funds Management Ltd. (Australia) to establish an investment partnership for part of the Hochtief Group’s participations in the airports of Athens, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Sydney. As part of the transaction, Hochtief AirPort has founded Hochtief AirPort Capital KGaA and will transfer direct and indirect interests of Hochtief AirPort’s investments to the new investment partnership. The interests include one-third of each of Hochtief AirPort’s participations the Athens, Dusseldorf and Hamburg airports and a 49% of its stake in Sydney Airport. Closing of the transaction is scheduled to take place within the next few weeks, when a number of conditions have been met, including approval from the German Federal Cartel Office’s. The equity partners will pay EUR$313 million for the investment in Hochtief AirPort Capital KGaA. The two Hasting-managed funds that are participating–the Australian Infrastructure Fund and the Utilities Trust of Australia–will together own 50% of the new investment partnership, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec will hold 40% and KfW IPEX Bank 10%. In addition to the sale price, Hochtief AirPort will receive an annual payment for the management of the investment partnership. The present value of such management compensation is EUR$30 million. The sale price values Hochtief AirPort’s overall airport interests in excess of EUR$1 billion.Hochtief chief executive Hans-Peter Keitel says the transaction is in line with the company’s strategy of releasing capital from airport properties once they have been successfully restructured and optimized. “The transaction price confirms our strategy and supports our rationale for continuing our commitment to the airports sector” he says in a prepared statement.Hochtief AirPort is a subsidiary of international construction services company Hochtief, one of the largest independent airport managers in the world. Hastings Funds Management, one of the largest infrastructure asset managers in Australia, is a subsidiary of Westpac, the third biggest Australian bank. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a state-owned financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. KfW IPEX-Bank is part of the KfW Bankengruppe, one of the biggest banks in Germany, which is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany (80%) and the German Federal States (20%).