Sydney Airport Holdings () was a
publicly listed
Australian
holding company which owned a 100% interest in
Kingsford Smith Airport via leaseholder
Sydney Airport Corporation. Its head office is located in
Mascot, New South Wales and it operates three passenger and seven cargo terminals in Sydney, and supplies a range of aeronautical services and facilities to airlines, retailers and other users. It was delisted in March 2022 from the
Australian Stock Exchange when acquired by Sydney Aviation Alliance (SAA).
History In 1989,
Qantas bought a 30-year lease on the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport, but sold it back to the Airport's operator in August 2015 for US$395 million. In 2002,
Macquarie Bank won the bid for a 99-year lease on the airport for billion through consortium Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Limited which it funded through the IPO of managed airport fund – Macquarie Airports (MAP) – under a combination of trusts managed by Macquarie Bank until it was spun off in 2009 to form MAp Airports (MAp). MAp owned shareholdings in
Brussels and
Copenhagen Airports, and an 84.8% stake in Sydney Airport. In 2011, MAp Airports traded its stakes in the Brussels and Copenhagen airports to the
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in exchange for the OTPP's 11% stake in Sydney airport. In December 2011, MAp Airports renamed itself Sydney Airport Holdings. The company retained a 1% stake in
Bristol Airport until 2013. In 2013, Sydney Airport Holdings took a 100% stake in Sydney Airport by issuing securities to, or buying out, minority owners of the airport, which included various superannuation funds. In August 2013, it was revealed that, since the airport had been acquired by the Macquarie Bank in 2002, it didn't pay corporate taxes, even though all other airports in the country did. In November 2013, the Macquarie Bank sold its shares of the airport back to its own shareholders, cashing $377 million in the process. In November 2021, the company announced that it had agreed to accept a billion takeover bid from the Sydney Aviation Alliance (SAA), a consortium comprising
IFM Investors,
QSuper and
Global Infrastructure Partners, advised by
Macquarie Capital. In December 2021, the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission approved the deal. The acquisition was completed in March 2022.
Management The company's inaugural
CEO was
Max Moore-Wilton , serving from 2002 until April 2006; when Moore-Wilton resigned as CEO to become
Chairman of Sydney Airport Holdings. He was succeeded as CEO by former
Australian Broadcasting Corporation managing director,
Russell Balding. In 2011,
Kerrie Mather, a senior executive with MApa trust spun out of the
Macquarie Group, succeeded Balding as CEO. == References ==