SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — The government announced Tuesday it has sold a 99-year lease for Sydney airport, Australia’s largest, to an Australian-led consortium for 5.5 billion Australian dollars ($3.1 billion).
Southern Cross consortium, which beat off two other bidders for the airport, is led by Australia’s Macquarie Bank and includes Hochtief AirPort, a subsidiary of German construction company Hochtief AG, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Finance Minister Nick Minchin announced the sale at the airport’s international terminal.
“This is the biggest government trade sale in Australian history,” he said. “We believe the price does reflect full and fair value of Sydney airport given that it is a world class international airport facility.”
Minchin said the government would use 4.2 billion Australian dollars ($2.4 billion) to pay off debt.
The announcement sent Macquarie Bank’s stock soaring. At 2 p.m. (0400 GMT), Macquarie Bank shares were up 4 percent, or 1.20 Australian dollars (68 U.S. cents) to 31.26 Australian dollars ($17.87).
The deal gives Southern Cross full control of Sydney Airport Corp. Ltd., the airport’s managing company, and the first right to build a second Sydney airport.
The government takes back control of the airport after the 99-year lease expires.
The government has already sold the country’s other major airports but Sydney is the nation’s largest. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, some 26.4 million domestic and international passengers used the airport.
Final bids for the airport were submitted June 12 after the government delayed the sale last September following the terrorist attacks in the United States and the collapse of Ansett, Australia’s second-largest domestic airline.
Nicholas Moore, head of Macquarie’s Investment Banking Group, said passengers would see very little change to the airport, at least in the short term.
He said the consortium was considering some modification of the airport’s retail area, and it would widen runways to accommodate more modern, wider-wing aircraft.
Cut-price domestic carrier Virgin Blue Airlines said it hoped to finalize negotiations with Sydney Airport’s new owner to take over the now-empty Ansett terminal.
The other two groups vying for the airport were Sydney Gateway Group, led by Australia’s Westpac Banking Group, and the Connect Group, which includes Dutch bank ABN AMRO Holdings NV and French transport infrastructure and engineering company Egis Group.
