copenhagen

Macquarie Airports Makes Bid for Copenhagen Airports (Update2)
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Macquarie Airports, the world's second- largest publicly traded airport operator, offered to buy Copenhagen Airports A/S, valuing the airfield owner at about 15.7 billion kroner ($2.5 billion) as the Australian company expands in Europe.

The Sydney-based company, which already holds 14.7 percent of the Danish company, is offering 2,000 kroner a share, Macquarie said in a statement today. Shares in Copenhagen Airports rose as much as 425 kroner, or 27 percent, to 1,995 kroner.

Macquarie owns stakes in airfields in Brussels, Rome, Sydney and the British airports in Birmingham and Bristol, and is one of five bidders for a 75 percent stake in Hungary's Budapest Airport Rt. The deal will reduce Macquarie's reliance on Sydney airport for earnings. After the acquisition, Sydney will account for 46 percent of Macquarie's assets from 49 percent now.

``We see the offer as attractive since our fair value is around 1,300 kroner a share,'' said Torsten Bech Jensen, analyst at Jyske Bank, with an ``accumulate'' rating on the stock, in a note to investors. ``We recommend shareholders take the offer. There's a relatively small chance for a counter offer since Macquarie already holds a stake.''

Copenhagen Airports, which is being advised on the sale by Merrill Lynch, said in a separate statement that its board is recommending Macquarie's offer and the company will drop out of the bidding for the Budapest airfield. Famandsforeningen LD, which owns 1.6 percent of the company, and the PFA Group, which owns 1.4 percent, also support the sale, according to the tender offer.

Government Stake

The Danish government owns 39.2 percent of Copenhagen Airports and previously indicated that it didn't want to sell its holding, according to the tender offer. Macquarie ``will seek to maintain a constructive relationship with the Danish state,'' it said.

Shares in Macquarie Airports rose 8 Australian cents, or 2.7 percent, to 3.03 Australian dollars at 5:05 p.m. in Sydney.

Copenhagen is Scandanavia's largest airport with 19 million passengers in 2004, an increase of 7.5 percent from 2003. The company's first-half net income surged 49 percent after passenger traffic increased and revenue from airport shops rose. The airfield operator expects full year pretax profit to rise 10 percent to 900 million kroner.

Macquarie said it may increase earnings at the airport by adding more passengers flying discount carriers and cutting or removing a 75-kroner tax on passenger visits. It may expand services available to low-cost carriers from about 9 percent currently.

The offer values Copenhagen at 10.2 times the airport's profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. When Macquarie Airports bought its initial 11.3 percent stake in February, it paid 9 times Ebitda.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Susanna Ray in Frankfurt at [email protected].
Last Updated: October 24, 2005 04:37 EDT