Board Wants to Use Expertise Elsewhere

Less than a month before its bid for 40 per cent of Auckland International Airport closes, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is talking up using the airport’s expertise to help run other airports it’s interested in buying.

CPPIB head of infrastructure Graeme Bevans said: “Before coming to Auckland we did a global analysis of airport operators and we chose Auckland because it’s one of the most efficiently run airports in the world.”

If CPPIB was successful in its bid for Auckland Airport there would be an opportunity to utilise the airport management’s expertise through management contracts, worth several millions of dollars a year.

As of mid last week the CPPIB had received acceptances representing 5.47 per cent of airport share for its offer which closes on March 13 and cannot be extended.

The non-council institutional shareholders can be expected to accept and approve the offer given that it’s priced more than $1 a share above the airport’s current share price.

Meanwhile Manukau City said before Christmas it would neither accept nor approve the CPPIB offer and Infratil is also expected to be against it.

The NZ Superfund, whose airport stake is managed by several different companies, said it would vote the whole stake together rather than splitting up its vote based on the advice of its various managers.

“We will look at the advice from ISS and take that into account before forming our own view,” said NZ Superfund chief operating officer Mark Fennell. – Andrew Janes

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