Private equity giant KKR is gearing up for a run at a40 per cent stake in Queensland Airport Limited, the owner of airports in Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach, which is up for sale via Barrenjoey.

Gold Coast airport expansion would be a drawcard for QAL investors’ selldown.

Sources said KKR was expected to table a non-binding indicative bid, but was yet to hire bankers. Its interest comes ahead of Barrenjoey officially kicking off the auction in the middle of this month.

KKR is a relative newcomer to local infrastructure assets. The team, which includes David Luboff and Andrew Jennings, led the firm into a $5.2 billion take-private of Spark Infrastructure and a buyout of family-owned bus operator Ritchies Transport – both in 2021.

Should it lob a bid at Queensland Airport as expected, it would be its first sighting in an Australian or New Zealand airport auction.

The 40 per stake has landed on the auction block as four QAL investors – State Super, Australian Retirement Trust and The Infrastructure Fund – time their exit to a recovery in passenger volumes to pre-pandemic levels, as revealed by Street Talk in late July.

It is joined by a 12.5 per cent stake in Brisbane Airport which is up for sale via Macquarie Capital, and a 7.19 per cent slice of Perth Airport via UBS.

QAL is the first show on the road and expected to field the greatest attention from external bidders, owing to the chunky 40 per cent stake which makes pre-emptive rights less of a concern. Sources reckon Perth is most likely to get pre-empted by existing investors, while Brisbane sits somewhere in the middle.

The sell-side pitch is expected to focus on QAL’s status as a key transportation infrastructure asset, with tailwinds from