Auckland International Airport Ltd, New Zealand’s largest, agreed to pay A$133 million (US$123 million) for a stake in two airports in Australia’s Queensland state to gain more from Asian travel.
The purchase of Westpac Banking Corp’s 25 percent stake in North Queensland Airports is expected to settle tomorrow, the Auckland-based company said in a statement to the New Zealand stock exchange. North Queensland operates the Mackay and Cairns airports, which jointly handle almost 3.7 million domestic and international travelers a year.
Auckland Airport, the arrival point for more than 70 percent of New Zealand’s visitors, is investing in new terminals and a hotel to help increase traffic. The Australian airports will provide a good return on equity and longer term will help draw more tourist traffic to Auckland, chief executive officer Simon Moutter said yesterday.
“It’s one of the things you would be most comfortable with them doing outside of investing in their current business,” said Stephen Walker, head of asset management at Goldman Sachs JBWere Ltd in Auckland.
Auckland Airport shares fell NZ$0.06, or 2.9 percent, to NZ$2.02 (US$1.49) at the 5pm market close in Wellington.
The acquisition will be initially funded from debt and subsequently the funding strategy could involve a mixture of equity and debt, the company said, without providing details.
The prospect of more shares being sold to investors has probably weighed on the stock price, Walker said.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said