Airport sale is now ready for take-off

From the archive, first published Wednesday 28th Mar 2007.

The final five companies vying to buy Leeds-Bradford Airport have been revealed as its sale takes a step closer to reality.

The first and second choice bidders will be decided by the five shareholding authorities, including Bradford Council, in what is expected to be a £100 million-plus deal.

Bradford is set to be one of the last to back the recommended but undisclosed "Bidder E" at special executive and full council meetings next Wednesday.

All the organisations on the shortlist already have experience in running airports.

They are: ABN AMRO Infrastructure; Barclays Private Equity infrastructure fund; Bridgepoint infrastructure fund; Regional and City Airports led by Balfour Beatty; and TBI.

The other West Yorkshire authorities which jointly own the airport - Leeds, Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield - are also being recommended to back "Bidder E".

Both Bradford and Leeds hold 40 per cent in the airport - and could expect to earn £40 million each. The other 20 per cent is owned by Kirklees, Calderdale and Wakefield.

Last October, Bradford was the final shareholder to back the sell-off, with more than 60 investors then expressing interest in the deal.

A total of 16 consortia presented submissions.

Five bidders were selected to go through the final bid earlier this month. They had to produce a business plan and demonstrate the level of investment they would make.

Paul Brook, chairman of the airport's project board, said: "The aim of this sale process has always been to attract a strong field of bidders to find a buyer who could not only demonstrate their financial standing but also their commitment to the region as a whole and to the airport's existing employees."

Mike Cartwright, policy director at the Bradford Chamber, said it was vital the winner had financial clout to undertake major developments at the airport.

Chris Glenn, of the Federation of Small Business in Yorkshire, said the emphasis on investment would be on transport infrastructure

The preferred and reserve bidders will be told of the ' decision next Wednesday at 9pm, with airport staff informed half an hour later. At 10pm the details will then be publicly announced although no prices will be revealed at this point.

Those two companies will then be given six working days to confirm their bid price before the deal is signed which gives the reserve bidder a theoretical chance of coming through on the rails to win the deal.