Gatwick owner GIP buys Edinburgh Airport in £807m deal

Edinburgh Airport has at last been sold, with owner BAA yesterday offloading the base in Scotland's capital to the owner of Gatwick and London City airports for £807m.

Global Infrastructure Partnership (GIP) beat off competition from a consortium led by JP Morgan Asset Management, and interest from the private equity firms Carlyle and 3i,to secure the deal.

BAA put Edinburgh on the market last October, after a drawn-out battle with the Competition Commission. It ruled BAA had to dump either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports to break up its ownership of British airports.

BAA, which is owned by Spain's Ferrovial, said the £807.2m sale price was payable in full when the deal closed, expected to be in May.

GIP's plans for developing Edinburgh – which handled 9.5 million passengers last year and serves more than 100 destinations – are expected to revolve around accelerating the speed at which passengers travel through check-in, security and baggage, and to encourage new routes at Scotland's capital.

GIP's chairman, Adebayo Ogunlesi, said: "Edinburgh Airport is a high-quality infrastructure asset. Its acquisition is a landmark deal for GIP."

Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said: "Edinburgh Airport and its team have been part of BAA for a long time and we are proud of its achievements. We wish the new owners every success."