China buys Heathrow operator stake
Ferrovial, which owns nearly 50 per cent of Heathrow Airport Holdings, said China Investment Corp has acquired a 10 per cent stake
1 November 2012
The Chinese government's main sovereign wealth fund says it has bought a 10% stake in the operator of Heathrow Airport, expanding its investments in British infrastructure.
China Investment Corp (CIC) gave no financial details but Ferrovial, the Spanish company which owns 49.99% of Heathrow Airport Holdings, said the fund paid other shareholders a total of 725.8 million US dollars (£449.9 million) to acquire its stake.
CIC was created in 2007 to manage a portion of China's multitrillion-dollar foreign reserves in hopes of earning a higher return.
Its early investments were mostly small stakes in publicly traded companies to avoid stirring political opposition abroad but the fund has begun making bigger direct investments.
