By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
A state-backed Singaporean investment fund is poised to participate in a £1bn takeover of the UK's biggest regional airports that will be announced within days.
Sky News has learnt that the Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) is expected to take a slice of the equity in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, alongside Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure giant, and Macquarie, the Australian bank.
GIC's involvement is understood to be in the process of being finalised although it may not be publicly named as an investor when the deal is announced early next week, according to insiders.
The three airports, which collectively handle approximately 13 million passengers annually, are being sold by Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH), the parent company of Britain's busiest airport.
Sky News revealed Ferrovial's interest in buying the three airports nearly ten months ago, with HAH's board keen to offload the regional sites as it concentrates on securing backing for a third runway.
The debate about Britain's aviation policy will reach a crucial stage next year, when Sir Howard Davies's commission makes a recommendation about the most appropriate location for new runway capacity.
The Commission's verdict will be made after the general election, and is effectively now a two-way fight between Heathrow and Gatwick, with the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, having seen his concept of a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary rejected by Sir Howard.
The three regional airports owned by HAH are the last remnants of the former BAA's monopoly over the UK's aviation infrastructure.
Next week's deal has been held up because of the complexity of HAH's own shareholder structure, with Ferrovial, which took over BAA in 2006, having steadily reduced its investment in Heathrow in recent years by selling small chunks of shares to sovereign wealth funds in China, Qatar and Singapore, including GIC.
Last year, the Universities Superannuation Scheme, one of the UK's biggest pension fund managers, bought an 8.65% stake in Heathrow's holding company, a move which saw Ferrovial's shareholding lowered to 25%.
Shortly after Ferrovial's takeover of BAA, competition authorities ordered the company to break itself up by selling Stansted, Gatwick and either Glasgow or Edinburgh, the latter of which was offloaded two years ago.
Heathrow accounts for more than 95% of HAH's annual profits, making the sale of the other regional assets "inevitable" within the next three years, said one.
HAH declined to comment on Friday.
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