Macquarie consortium weighs rival bid for Sydney airport

A consortium led by Macquarie Group is exploring a rival offer for Sydney Airport, in a potential challenge to IFM Investors Pty’s A$22.3b ($17b) bid, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Australian firm has been speaking with potential partners, including local pension funds, about making a joint offer, according to the people. The bidding group could include funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Macquarie may also use some of its own capital for the deal and could seek to rope in some of the MIRA funds’ investors to join the consortium, one of the people said. Any transaction for Sydney Airport, Australia’s main overseas gateway, would be one of the boldest bets yet on a recovery in global travel after the coronavirus pandemic. Including debt, a purchase of Sydney Airport would rank as the largest-ever acquisition in the country and one of the world’s biggest airport deals in recent years.<br/>