KKR teams up with Skip Capital for Queensland Airports; vets EastLink

afr.com:

It’s pedal to the metal for KKR’s dealmakers, who are chasing another local infrastructure asset, or two, to park in their portfolio alongside TransGrid-owner Spark Infrastructure.

Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson are partnering with KKR on its tilt for Queensland Airports Limited. 

Sources said KKR has locked in tech billionaire Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson’s family office Skip Capital to tag team on its bid for Queensland Airports Limited.

This column, last week revealed, the US private equity giant had brought in RBC Capital Markets’ bankers to advise it on the tilt. Between bankers and a bid partner, KKR’s shaping up to be a key contender in the auction.

Skip’s arrival would help KKR meet the Airports Act, which dictates airports be at least 51 per cent owned by an Australian entity. It’s a handy pairing when QAL has a 74 per cent stake up for grabs via Barrenjoey and Macquarie Capital, which has to be sold in one hit unlike the EastLink process.

Skip Capital is no stranger to teaming up with institutional players bidding for Australian assets. It has deployed the playbook at least twice in the past, helping Washington H Soul Pattison’s bid for Regis Healthcare and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners’ tilt at Genex Power – although both were eventually abandoned.

No points for guessing which half of the billionaire couple is in the driving seat here; Jackson, is a former infrastructure banker who worked at Hastings Funds Management and then held board seats at the likes of NSW poles and wires company TransGrid.

It’s an interesting pairing between the US PE juggernaut and local tech billionaires. Given Skip and Stonepeak worked together at Genex Power just last year, you would think they would pair up again at