Sydney Airport sale a step closer after improved US$17.4b offer

A sale of Australia’s biggest airport moved closer on Monday as an infrastructure investor group won permission to conduct due diligence on Sydney Airport Holdings, after sweetening its takeover offer to A$23.6b ($17.4b). The move sent the airport’s shares up 5%, with analysts saying a rival bid appeared unlikely given the scale of the funding needed and foreign ownership rules that mean the airport must remain 51% Australian owned. “We assign a high probability of a deal succeeding given the board’s commitment to unanimously recommend the (consortium’s) offer if there is no alternative higher offer,” Credit Suisse analysts said in a note. Sydney Airport is Australia’s only listed airport operator and a purchase would be a long-term bet on the travel sector which has been battered by the pandemic. The country plans to gradually open its borders once 80% of adults are fully vaccinated, a milestone expected by the end of the year. A successful takeover would be among the largest buyouts ever of an Australian firm and underline a year of stellar deal activity, that has already seen a mega $29b buyout of Afterpay by Square.<br/>