SYDNEY – After several rejected bids, Australia’s Sydney airport today accepted a takeover offer from investment group Sydney Aviation Alliance at A$8.75 (RM26.71) per share, equating to a deal of A$23.6 billion, reported the Xinhua news agency.
The bid marks the consortium’s third offer since its offers of A$8.25 per unit on July 5 and A$8.45 on August 16, both of which were knocked back for not being “in the best interests of Sydney airport security holders”.
Over the next month, the airport will open its books to the investor group, allowing due diligence to be carried out before the purchase is finalised.
The agreement remains non-exclusive, and the airport will still be able to accept other bids.
Today, the airport board declared its intent to “unanimously recommend that security holders vote in favour of the proposal in the absence of a superior proposal”.
In its August half-year results, Sydney airport posted nearly A$100 million in losses, and reported a 91% decline in international passengers and 36.4% drop in domestic ones.
Despite this, its CEO Geoff Culbert expects business to pick up as Australia’s Covid-19 vaccination rate increases and borders begin to reopen. – Bernama, September 13, 2021
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