Sydney Airport Holdings () was a

publicly In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

listed

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

which owned a 100% interest in

Kingsford Smith Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...

via Sydney Airport Corporation. The company was listed on the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as, ...

and had its head office located in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The company was acquired in March 2022 by Sydney Aviation Alliance (SAA).

History

In 1989,

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

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, the

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...

bought a 99-year lease on the airport for $5.6 billion. The company was known as Macquarie Airports as a combination of trusts managed by Macquarie Group until it was spun off in 2009 to form MAp Airports. MAp owned shareholdings in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup ( da, Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup, ; ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand, the Øresund Region, and southern Sweden including Scania. It is the second largest airport in the Nordic coun ...

s, 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 The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (french: Régime de retraite des enseignantes et des enseignants de l'Ontario) is an independent organization responsible for administering defined-benefit pensions for school teachers of the Canadian pr ...

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 Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...

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 $23.6 billion takeover bid from the Sydney Aviation Alliance (SAA), a consortium comprising

IFM Investors IFM Investors is a provider of investment services. As at 30 June 2021, IFM Investors invests on behalf of more than 550 institutions worldwide, including pension, superannuation and sovereign wealth funds, universities, insurers, endowment fun ...

QSuper QSuper was an Australian superannuation fund based in Brisbane, Queensland. The fund was established in 1912 through an Act of Parliament. The State Public Sector Superannuation Scheme was also known as the QSuper Fund. The board of trustees of ...

and

Global Infrastructure Partners Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is an infrastructure investment fund making equity and selected debt investments. GIP's main headquarters are located in New York City and its equity investments are based on infrastructure assets in the energ ...

. In December 2021, the

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

approved the deal. The acquisition was completed in March 2022.

Sydney Airport Corporation

Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) is a

private company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

that operates and manages Kingsford Smith Airport. Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Limited (SCACH) is the ultimate parent company of SACL, which is controlled by a number of entities including ''Sydney Airport Holdings''.

Corporate background

In 2002, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

entered into an arrangement for SACL to lease and operate the airport for a period of 99 years. Whilst the airport is privately controlled under this agreement, the Australian Government still retains responsibility for other airport-related services through agencies such as

Airservices Australia Airservices Australia is an Australian Government owned corporation, responsible for providing safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry within the Australian Flight Information Region (FIR). S ...

(air traffic control, aviation communications/navigation-aids, airport fire-fighting and rescue), the

Australian Customs Service The Australian Customs Service was an Government of Australia, Australian Government agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the Department of Indus ...

, the

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service was the Australian government agency responsible for enforcing Australian quarantine laws, as part of the Department of Agriculture. Following a period operating under the name DAFF Biosecurit ...

, the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

and the

Department of Infrastructure and Transport The Department of Infrastructure and Transport was an Australian government department. It was formed in September 2010, following the federal election in August 2010. The department absorbing parts of the Department of Infrastructure, Tr ...

Management

The company's inaugural

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

was

Max Moore-Wilton Maxwell William Moore-Wilton (born 27 January 1943) is an Australian corporate executive and former public servant, colloquially known as "Max the Axe". Early career Moore-Wilton served as a senior executive in the Department of Foreign Affairs ...

, serving from 2002 until April 2006; when Moore-Wilton resigned as CEO to become

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Sydney Airport Holdings. He was succeeded as CEO by former

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

managing director,

Russell Balding Russell Stephen Balding (born 7 January 1952) is an Australian company director, who was managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 2002 to 2006. From 1982 to 1987, Balding was financial controller for the New Sout ...

. In 2011, Kerrie Mather, a senior executive with MApa trust spun out of the

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...

, succeeded Balding as CEO.

References

External links

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Corporate pages
{{Macquarie Group Holding companies of Australia Transport operators of Australia Airport operators Aviation in Australia Companies based in Sydney Holding companies established in 2002 Transport companies established in 2002 Australian companies established in 2002 Sydney Airport Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange 2013 mergers and acquisitions 2022 mergers and acquisitions