Queensland Airports selldown swells to 74pc stake; TIF mulls clean out
The looming selldown at Queensland Airports Limited – which owns airports at Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach – is about to get much larger. Street Talk understands Macquarie’s The Infrastructure Fund is considering parting with its entire 40 per cent stake in the business instead of the 10 per cent it originally put up for sale.
Gold Coast airport accounts for nearly 75 per cent of Queensland Airport Limited’s traffic volumes. Rob Homer
Sources said Macquarie still had to square off governance approvals before the upsized selldown could be made official to potential bidders. Should it press ahead as expected, sellside adviser Barrenjoey would go from shopping a 44 per cent stake to about 74 per cent stake. In addition to TIF, there’s also fellow shareholders State Super and Australian Retirement Trust – all of whom want to exit in full.
That’s a controlling stake and suggests QAL could shape out to be an exciting (and much bigger) auction. The original stake was tipped to be worth $1 billion and caught the attention of private equity giant KKR.
Suitors have been expecting a mid-September start to the auction. However, TIF’s change of heart means formal launch won’t be until later this year as shareholders work through the details.
The asset received strong inbound interest, including from international bidders, even before market soundings began in earnest two months ago. While existing shareholders have preemptive rights, the enlarged stake may turn out to be too big a bite for some,
As for TIF, the decision to seek a complete exit isn’t surprising given its superannuation fund clients have been rebalancing their portfolios.
It has landed on the auction block as volumes return to pre-pandemic levels,
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