Brussels Airport is being prepared for a potential sale as Macquarie, one of its part-owners, is planning an exit from Belgium’s main hub.
In 2004 Macquarie bought a 70% stake worth 735 million Euros from BIAC (Brussels International Airport Company, the former name of the airport operating company), a stake that was later reduced to 36%, and is now ending a (legal) dispute with co-owner Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) which owns 39%, next to the Belgian State with 25%.
According to financial newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo, there is quite some interest in the Macquarie stake: the 36% stake has recently been valued at €1.5 billion. Brussels Airport has grown considerably with an all-time record of 24.8 million passengers in 2017.
