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BAA in plea to shareholdersBAA in plea to shareholders
John Rimmer
The UK airports group has outlined four main reasons why it believes shareholders should reject the takeover bid led by Grupo Ferrovial
UK airports group BAA has issued a circular to its shareholders outlining why its board believes they should reject the hostile takeover bid launched by a consortium led by Spain's Grupo Ferrovial. Its argument centres on four main reasons to reject the 810pence per-share bid, which values the company at £8.75bn ($15.4bn).BAA argued that it is "ideally placed to take advantage of continuing growth in the global air travel market," as the world's biggest quoted airport manager. It also argued that the value of its London airports Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted is "growing rapidly" and is supported by government policy, which BAA said would enable the group to continue with its plan to invest £9.5bn ($16.6bn) in the network and to deliver greater returns in future.
BAA also said it expected "even stronger returns" from its other businesses, including airports in Scotland and abroad. And it concluded that shareholders should place their trust in what it called "a first-rate management team [recruited from] world-leading companies".
CEO Mike Clasper said: "Since I became chief executive my priority has been to define a higher level of ambition and performance for BAA and to renew senior management. Today we are transforming BAA's assets and its prospects. Our job is to convert ambition into great opportunities and then ensure we deliver. That's how you really create shareholder value. My message to shareholders is: don't sell your shares. It's not the right time. It's not the right price."
BAA chairman Marcus Agius added: "The BAA board is determined that neither [Ferrovial] nor anyone else should be allowed to buy BAA on the cheap."
Ferrovial, which announced a strong increase in profits yesterday, has said it would consider increasing its bid if it were allowed to study BAA's accounts.
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