An artist’s impression of the new Manchester Airport terminal.

The Manchester Airports Group has priced a £300m ($395m), 22-year bond, with an annual coupon of 2.875% and order book that it says was over three times oversubscribed at around £1bn ($1.3bn).

The airports company owns and operates the UK airports of Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth and its management says it will use the bond proceeds to fund capital investment programmes associated with major improvements at both Manchester and London Stansted.

MANCHESTER AND STANSTED PROJECTS

The company says that work has already started on delivering the Manchester Airport Transformation Programme (MANTP), a £1bn ($1.3bn) project which will allow the airport to serve more passengers in its terminals and make fuller use of its current runway capacity.

London Stansted Airport will also commence the first stage of its works to transform the current terminal building into a dedicated departures building in 2018 – in advance of the construction of the new adjacent arrivals building next door. Initial work will involve the creation of new check-in space and seating areas in the terminal.

Commenting, MAG’s Chief Financial Officer Neil Thompson said: “The success of the bond is a testament to the strong financial performance of the group over the past three years, which has delivered over 40% earnings growth and demonstrates the confidence of a wide number of UK and international blue-chip investors in MAG’s future growth strategy.

Another view of how the Manchester ‘transformation’ may look.

VITAL INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY

“Manchester and London Stansted airports both provide vital international connectivity for the UK, with the group operating routes to over 280 destinations.

“Our plans for significant investment at Manchester and Stansted will not only improve the experience for passengers and airlines using our airports, but also provide the foundations to unlock their significant future growth potential.”

MAG mandated NatWest Markets as Arranger and Bookrunner on the transaction, alongside Barclays and BNP Paribas who also acted as Bookrunners. Co-Managers were CIBC, Handelsbanken, MUFG and NAB.

For more information on the changes taking place at Manchester Airport, click here: https://www.trbusiness.com/regional-news/europe/manchester-in-retail-marketing-drive-ahead-of-t2-transformation/128851