BAA accepts Grupo Ferrovial’s $19 billion offer

BAA accepts Grupo Ferrovial’s $19 billion offer    The board of British airport operator BAA today accepted a 950.25 pence ($17.71) per share offer amounting to '10.3 billion ($19.2 billion) from Spanish construction firm Grupo Ferrovial.
   “The board believes that an offer at this level represents an attractive price for BAA,” the company said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
   Ferrovial’s latest offer is considerably higher that its original 810 pence ($15.10) per share approach in April, and is 49 percent above BAA’s share price before Ferrovial’s interest became known.
   In a secret auction, a rival consortium headed by New York-based investment bank Goldman Sachs made a slightly higher 955.25 pence ($17.80) per share offer. Both offers included a final dividend of 15.25 pence (28 cents) per share.
   “The consortium is continuing to review its position and a further announcement will be made in due course. The consortium urges shareholders to take no action,” Goldman Sachs said.
   BAA owns and operates Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports in the London area, as well as airports in four other U.K. cities.
   Elsewhere in the world, BAA operates the Indianapolis International Airport, and has smaller retail and catering management contracts at Baltimore-Washington, Pittsburgh and Boston Logan airports in the United States. It also has equity stakes in, and manages airports in Budapest, Hungary; Naples, Italy; and a half-dozen airports in Australia.