Macquarie buys car parks for $A1.95bThursday Mar 15 07:02...

Macquarie buys car parks for $A1.95b

Thursday Mar 15 07:02 AEDT

Australia's Macquarie Bank has agreed to buy the car-parking facilities of Britain's National Car Park's for 790 million pounds ($A1.95 billion) from private equity firm 3i Group.

3i will retain NCP's car-clamping and towing services unit.

NCP operates about 850 car parks with about 50,000 spaces, accounting for more than half Britain's off-street parking market, and is the largest provider of spaces at airports and railway stations.

"As a result, the business generates predictable and stable cashflows over the long term," Macquarie Executive Director Martin Stanley said.

It is the third time NCP has changed hands in five years, after 3i bought it from fellow private equity firm Cinven less than two years ago. Cinven acquired it in 2002.

Under the ownership of publicly listed 3i, NCP has expanded rapidly, adding 1,500 jobs to reach 6,000. The services arm has turnover approaching STG140 million ($A346.36 million) and employs nearly 4,000 people.

"The rationale behind this (demerger) is to enable the two companies to better concentrate on their core skills," NCP CEO Bob Macnaughton said. He is to become chairman of the NCP Services on-street enforcement arm remaining with 3i.

3i has come under fire over NCP from the GMB union, which has organised strikes and is calling for government scrutiny of the firm.

"The Treasury Select Committee need to look at the fact that in the UK car parks worth one billion pounds ($A2.47 billion) has been stripped out of the sector by private equity companies over the past few years," GMB regional secretary Ed Blissett said.

"Since money does not grow on trees this has had to be paid for by job losses, by wage cuts and exploitation of migrant workers, and by sky-high car parking charges."

Macquarie bought the business through its European Infrastructure Fund II, which also led the group that bought Thames Water from Germany's RWE.