(Rewrites throughout and adds comments from Gatwick Chairman, CEO and Global Infrastructure Partners.)

 
   By Anthony Shevlin and Ian Walker

Vinci SA (DG.FR) said Thursday that it will buy a majority shareholding in London's Gatwick airport in a deal that values the U.K.'s second-largest airport at over $7 billion.

Vinci Airports, a Vinci Concessions subsidiary, will acquire a 50.01% shareholding in the airport for GBP2.9 billion ($3.68 billion) and the deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019, Vinci said.

The remaining 49.99% stake will be managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP.XX).

Gatwick Chairman David Higgins described the deal as a "vote of confidence in Gatwick and its future potential," while Chief Executive Stewart Wingate said there won't be any changes to the immediate running of Gatwick.

Gatwick Airport serves more than 228 destinations in 74 countries and is used by 46 million passengers a year. It is owned by a group of international investment funds and pension funds, of which Global Infrastructure Partners is the largest shareholder.

"This partnership is focused on continuing the transformation at the airport over the last decade," GIP partner Michael McGhee said.

Vinci Airports manages the development and operations of 46 airports in France, Portugal, the U.K., Sweden, Serbia, Cambodia, Japan, the U.S., Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Chile and Brazil. It is used by more than 250 airlines, and the network handled over 228 million passengers in 2018.

Write to Anthony Shevlin at anthony.shevlin@dowjones.com; @anthony_shevlin and Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 27, 2018 05:39 ET (10:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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