Canada buying into Arqiva
September 30, 2013
By Chris Forrester
A Canadian pension fund is reportedly looking to buy a 25 per cent stake in British satellite services and transmission company Arqiva. Australian fund manager Macquarie is said to be selling the portion. Macquarie’s Singapore-based International Infrastructure Fund sold an 8.7 per cent stake in March 2010 for £115 million (€135m).
The buyer on that occasion was a consortium led by Canada’s Pension Plan Investment Board. The FT is saying that PSP Investments, which manages C$76 billion of investments, and Canada’s Pension Plan Investment Board – with C$183 billion of assets – are expected to compete for the stake being sold by Macquarie. The sale may fetch about £600 million. CPPIB already holds 48 per cent of Arqiva, which owns the transmitters used by the BBC, as well as many of the country’s mobile masts.
Arqiva made a pre-tax profit of £275 million in the year to June 30th 2012 on revenues of £831 million.