From Adelaide AdvertiserMAp requests trading haltBy Andrew...

From Adelaide Advertiser
MAp requests trading halt
By Andrew White
30nov02
MACQUARIE Airports signalled several developments in its long-running acquisition of Aeroporti di Roma yesterday, requesting a trading halt on its shares ahead of an announcement on Monday.

The surprise move comes just days after Colonial First State funds management completed another major sell-down of its holding in MAp.

Colonial, owned by Commonwealth Bank and a member of the Southern Cross consortium that funded MAp to buy Sydney airport, cut its holding from 7.7 per cent to 5.33 per cent on Tuesday.

The sale of 22 million shares is the latest in a series of disposals that has taken Colonial from a high of 9.2 per cent.

It coincided with record volume of 32 million MAp shares that day, sending the stock to a record low of 81c.
Before yesterday's trading halt the shares last changed hands at 85c.

MAp requested the halt yesterday morning "because of certain developments in respect of is acquisition of an interest in Rome Airport".

MAp and the unlisted Macquarie Airport Group announced in July plans to buy 44 per cent of Aeroporti di Roma for E480 million ($853 million).

The infrastructure fund hopes to complete the transaction by the end of the year.

Aeroporti di Roma owns Italy's Ciampo and Fiumincina airports, and adds to a MAp portfolio that includes Sydney airport and stakes in Bristol and Birmingham airports in the UK.

Observers said the halt could relate to a change in the size of the acquisition.

Two weeks ago, MAp said Aeroporti di Roma's earnings would fall 10 per cent short of the $234 million forecast in its prospectus.

But a week later the company reinstated the forecast, citing a pick-up in international traffic between July and September.

Traffic through Rome grew 25 per cent in October and was expected to increase due to new low-fare services in Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt and Paris.