French infrastructure giant Vinci Airports has purchased a majority stake in London’s Gatwick Airport. Its Vinci Concessions subsidiary has paid £2.9 billion ($3.66 million) for 50.01 percent of the airport, with the remaining 49.99 percent staying with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
The deal is supposed to close sometime in the first quarter of 2019.
Gatwick Airport is the eighth-biggest airport in Europe.
“The whole Vinci Airports network will benefit from Gatwick airport’s world-class management and operational excellence, which has allowed it to deliver strong and steady growth in a very constrained environment. As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience,” said Vinci Airports’ president Nicholas Notebaert.
