London City Airport and the Reuben brothers have emerged as two of the four parties vying for control of Southend Airport, which has been put up for sale for £40m to £50m, the Telegraph reports.
Regional Airports (RAL), a private company owned by Andrew Walters, will announce this week that it has whittled down a shortlist of second-round bidders from seven to four. However, RAL, which has retained the advisory firm Opus, is expected to instigate a third round rather than proceed to exclusive talks with a single bidder, the newspaper reports.
Mr Walters, who also owns the Biggin Hill airfield, which is not for sale, put Southend on the market believing that new owners were required to finance its £35m-plus development as a sixth airport for London.
Bidders in the latest round are reported to have also included Australia's Macquarie, Balfour Beatty (who own Exeter Airport and recently bought Blackpool Airport), Barclays Capital, Germany's Hochtief and the owner of Luton Airport, Abertis.
London City, which was itself sold in 2006 to a consortium of the American insurer AIG and Global Infrastructure Partners, has been keenly following the auction but is determined not to overpay. The property entrepreneurs Simon and David Reuben jointly own Oxford airport with the private equity group Dawnay Day. The brothers and Dawnay are said to have put in one of the more attractive second-round bids, the Telegraph reports.
Sources close to the auction would only tell the newspaper that the final quartet included 'an infrastructure player, private equity and a UK airport owner'. |
