BAA may hurry sale of Gatwick Airport

LONDON, May 10 (UPI) -- The debt-laden owner of London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports may have to accelerate the planned sale of Gatwick to complete a refinancing effort.

The Times of London reported Saturday that BAA, struggling to pull off a $19.5 billion debt refinancing, has succeeded in convincing its investors to pump an additional $779 million into the company, but that a proposed sale of Gatwick Airport – which could raise an additional $3.9 billion – might have to be hurried along.

The newspaper says Australian investment bank Macquarie has been advising BAA on the possible sale of its assets for several months, and that shares of Grupo Ferrovial, BAA's Spanish majority stakeholder, fell Friday on concerns the refinancing might not be accomplished.

BAA told the Times that it's still working on the details of the refinancing plans, stressing that it has yet to finish negotiating with its lending banks on the possible transference of a large portion of its debt into a new deal structure.