Kiwi airport investor emerges as possible buyer for Stansted

Infratil, a New Zealand-based airport owner that is trying to sell Glasgow Prestwick and Manston airport in Kent, has been confirmed as a potential bidder for London's Stansted.

In its first public comments on its interest in Stansted, Morrison & Co, an infrastructure fund which manages Infratil, said it was looking at a possible acquisition. Morrison is expected to launch any bid as part of a consortium, which would also include the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

BAA, which also owns Heathrow, is reluctantly selling Stanstead after losing an appeal against a forced break-up of the group ordered by the Competition Commission.

Steven Fitzgerald, an executive director of the Wellington-based Morrison, told Bloomberg: "We've been following the BAA forced disposal process, with Stanstead being the last of them."

Stanstead was finally put up for sale last month after a three-year battle against the ruling by BAA, which is controlled by Ferrovial, the Spanish infrastructure investor.