What a mess BAA is these days. This was a Government owned company once upon a time, privatised and sold to the Spanish at the height of the boom. The clever Spanish construction conglomerate, Ferrovial, borrowed fortunes (up to £10 billion) to take-out our national asset.Now they are left with a declining asset, debts they can't pay, a Government who have promptly ordered the break-up of the company and general misery.
My heart bleeds for them. Careful what you wish for when buying trophy foreign national assets. The one downside for the UK is that our London Airports can be denuded investment, but we have a regulator to at least make sure something gets spent, let's hope it remains up to the task.
Not long now until Ferrovial gives up and the airports are back in British Private Equity hands I should imagine...
