The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is selling part of its stakes in Britain’s Birmingham and Bristol airports to two Australian entities, the New South Wales Treasury Corp. and Sunsuper superannuation fund.
TCorp and Sunsuper will each buy 15 per cent of Bristol Airport with Ontario Teachers’ retaining a 70 per cent stake. As for Birmingham Airport, Ontario Teachers’ will retain a 33.8 per cent stake and will sell 7.2 per cent to each Australian entity.
Read: Ontario Teachers’ increases stake in airport
“Working with like-minded partners who bring new ideas, capital and expertise to the table is core to our broader investment strategy,” said Andrew Claerhout, senior managing director for infrastructure and natural resources at Ontario Teachers’, in a news release.
Birmingham and Bristol are the seventh and ninth largest airports in Britain, respectively, with a combined passenger count of more than 19 million in 2016.
“We believe that investments in the infrastructure sector provide greater scope for value creation through responsible stewardship, governance and proactive management of assets to create value for our members,” said Michael Weaver, head of private markets at Sunsuper. “We look forward to our ongoing involvement in the Bristol and Birmingham airports, with a key focus on delivering high-quality outcomes for all passengers and stakeholders.”
Ontario Teachers’ expects the transactions to be complete by late November.
Read: Teachers’, AIMCo and Borealis buy London City airport for £2 billion