Queensland Airports auction preps for takeoff; first bids by March

afr.com:

Four months after Barrenjoey’s bankers boarded Queensland Airports Limited, the auction is ready for take-off.

Street Talk understands suitors were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements this week as sell-side advisers Barrenjoey and Macquarie Capital prepare to open the data room.

The sale process for the 74 per cent stake would officially kick off in mid-December, but first-round bids aren’t expected to be called for until the end of the March quarter. That’s to make room for the Christmas holidays, which, as bankers well know, typically stretch to Australia Day.

The aim is to have the deal locked and loaded by mid-next year. Tyre kickers signing up for data room access were told QAL was on track to hit $140 million EBITDA for the 2024 financial year, going by most recent traffic data, which showed the travel rebound was holding up.

As this column previously reported, QAL’s four airports – Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach – together tallied up $177 million and $118 million EBITDA for the 2023 financial year. The sell-side pitch has leaned heavily on an earnings U-turn since the COVID-19 pandemic forced border closures, as well as Queensland’s growing population.

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners are logical bidders for the 74 per cent stake in QAL, which would require any foreign bidder to bring in an Aussie partner – thanks to the Airports Act’s requirement that local airports be at least 51 per cent owned by an Australian entity. ASX-listed DEXUS is also expected to submit a non-binding offer, sources said.

So far, Street Talk has spotted just one bidder pairing ready to go – US private equity giant KKR, and billionaire Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital.