Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Consortium 'offering council £100m deal as alternative to public funding plan'
An international consortium says it is offering a £100m deal to council bosses to take over Doncaster Sheffield Airport and 126 acres of surrounding development land.
The consortium, which told The Yorkshire Post last month it was willing to invest “vast sums” into the development of the reopened airport site, is making public further details about those involved with its proposed bid.
A statement said it is led by Marbella-based Labyrinth International Investments. It is in partnership with Monaco-based Castlepines Global Equity, which lists mining, energy projects, real estate and shipping among its key investment areas.
A representative of the investor consortium said it also includes “strategic partners from the United Arab Emirates who bring extensive experience in large scale aviation and infrastructure projects” and that Castlepines’ funding model “is collaborative with major pension funds from the US, Canada and Europe, supported and structured by some of the world’s leading investment banks”.
The spokesperson added: “We have provided comprehensive transparency and all required legal documentation to the council to demonstrate our credibility, compliance and financial capacity.”
The Yorkshire Post has seen an analysis sheet from the group saying it is willing to offer a £100m sale value with 10 per cent equity ‘regifted’ to the council as an alternative to the current plan for £193m of taxpayer money to be spent on the local authority reopening the airport via a council-run company called Fly Doncaster.
Councillors are to vote on releasing funding for the latter plan later this month. Doncaster Council did not respond to repeated requests for comment but has previously confirmed it has been ‘engaging’ with the investor group.
Companies House records show the UK arm of Labyrinth International was dissolved earlier this year. The spokesperson said this was due to the business now being fully located in Spain.
Earlier this week, Doncaster Council chief executive Damian Allen indicated he anticipated substantial private investor interest in DSA once the reopened site is turning a profit - which is expected to occur in the mid-2030s. He highlighted a recent takeover of Scottish airports - a deal which saw a Canadian pension fund buy Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports for £1.53bn.
Mr Allen told a council scrutiny meeting this showed there is interest in UK airport investment and added: “The challenge is the public sector often ends up being the investor of first resort, because it ends up derisking the front end. As we’ve pointed out in that financial profile, when you get to positive EBITDA, they’ll be a queue of people wanting to come and make propositions. I think there’s never been a better time to do this.”
A recent council report set out that losses of £81.1m are expected in the first nine years of DSA operating, with projected profits of £230m across the 15 years after that.
It said that “future potential private investment” may allow for public spending on the reopening project “to be recouped in full or in part”.
The office of South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard, which controls the majority of the public money due to be spent on the project, confirmed it has met with the investor group and is “continuing to support City of Doncaster Council, who are leading all negotiations around private investment in DSA”.