Spain's Ferrovial sells $2 billion stake in Heathrow Airport

Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial said Thursday it had sold a 20-percent stake in Britain's Heathrow airport to French and Saudi investors for over $2 billion.

Ferrovial said in a filing to the Spanish stock exchange regulators that it sold the 19.75 percent stake for two billion euros ($2.1 billion) to French fund Ardian and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The buyers also acquired a further 18-percent stake from other shareholders, the statement said.

That gave them in total a nearly 38-percent stake in FGP Topco, the consortium that owns the airport, leaving Ferrovial no longer its biggest shareholder.

Ardian now holds more than 22 percent and PIF around 15 percent.

Ferrovial announced in November it had reached agreements to sell its stakes in three other British airports: Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton to a German company.

The Spanish company specialises in transport infrastructure management and operates a vast portfolio of global assets, including airport interests in Turkey and New York.

Heathrow was not seen as a core asset by Ferrovial.

It bought its stake in Heathrow in a 2006 takeover and initially held 56 percent of the hub, before gradually reducing its interest.