BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick, last night urged its shareholders to ignore Spanish takeover signals and ensure the independence of the company’s “unique portfolio of world-class airport assets”.
In a statement prompted by confirmation that Grupo Ferrovial was contemplating a cash bid, BAA said that it “has not received any proposal . . . and strongly advises shareholders not to take any action at this time”. It said: “BAA is confident about the future of its assets [and] believes that BAA is well-placed to continue to generate significant shareholder value from this growing portfolio of assets.”
Ferrovial, listed in Madrid and worth €9.4 billion (£6.4 billion), has given no guidance as to what price it would be prepared to pay for BAA. It gave warning that there was no certainty of a bid being made. Any bid, Ferrovial said, would be made by a consortium fronted by itself.
Ferrovial, one of the world’s biggest infrastructure groups, was forced to confirm its interest in BAA after the Takeover Panel investigated the target’s soaring share price on Tuesday.
Investors, buoyed by the takeover interest, yesterday lifted BAA shares to 801p before profittaking took them to 752½p at the close, up 97½p. At that level, BAA’s equity is worth £8.1 billion, although a buyer would also have to take on £3 billion of debt.
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Analysts have suggested that a successful bid for BAA might have to be as high as 900p to reflect its blue-chip UK asset base as well as its geographical reach into America and Australia.