Macquarie to join Ferrovial to bid BAA Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:58 PM EST
LONDON (Reuters) - Australian bank Macquarie (MBL.AX: Quote) is poised to team up with Spain's Gropu Ferrovial (FER.MC: Quote) to launch a hostile bid for airports operator BAA (BAA.L: Quote), The Observer said on Sunday.
It is understood that a bid for BAA, which owns London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, will be put on the table within days, the paper said.
"Macquarie and Ferrovial are natural allies. A memorandum of understanding cannot be far away," it quoted an unnamed City source as saying.
The Australian bank, which recently walked away from a 1.5 billion pound ($2.62 billion) bid for the London Stock Exchange, could not immediately be reached for comment and Ferrovial was not immediately available for comment.
Ferrovial said on February 8 it was considering a cash bid for BAA as part of a consortium and Macquarie Airports (MAP.AX: Quote), a global airport investment fund managed by Macquarie Bank, has been named as a possible rival suitor.
Sources familiar with the situation have told Reuters Ferrovial was still finalizing a consortium and had not yet made a firm decision to bid.
The Singapore government, Canadian fund manager Caisse de despot et placement du Quebec, and Britain's Star Capital have been tipped as possible consortium partners.
Analysts have said a bid could be as high as 900 pence, valuing BAA at more than 9.5 billion pounds ($16.61 billion).
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