Pension funds in Canada consider buying UK airports

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Some of the leading pension funds in Canada have joined with other investors seeking to acquire airports in the UK that will be sold off by airports operator BAA by requirement of Britain’s Competition Commission, according to a report in the Globe and Mail.

Among the funds involved are Borealis, the infrastructure division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, executives close to the funds have revealed.

The owners, which including the province of Quebec’s public pension plan funds manager, might be forced to sell-off the airports in a recession, which would provide a compelling opportunity for other large pension funds in Canada, according to the newspaper’s report.

Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, which acquired the UK airports when the market was at a peak in 2006, was recently ordered by the UK Competition Commission to sell off three of its seven airport holdings within two years.

The monopoly watchdog is forcing the sale of London’s Gatwick airport first, and then Stansted, and finally either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport in Scotland.

Reuters was not able to reach the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan for immediate comment.

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