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![TheIcahnist Avatar](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:24/cr:twitter::1661140531274031105.png) The Icahnist [@TheIcahnist](/creator/twitter/TheIcahnist) on x 21.1K followers
Created: 2025-07-27 23:33:59 UTC

UK = The PE Airport Laboratory

Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s privatization wave turned UK airports into case studies.

🔹 Gatwick
• 2009: GIP bought from BAA for £1.5B
• Paid out £1.5B in dividends over a decade
• 2019: Vinci bought XXXXX% for £2.9B
• Remaining stake now worth ~£3B

→ IRR rocket fuel: entry at forced sale + heavy dividends + partial exit + retained upside.

🔹 Heathrow
• June 2024: Ferrovial sold XXXX% for £3.26B to Ardian + Saudi PIF
• PIF diversifying into infra as part of $2T asset strategy by 2030
• Heathrow generates XX% revenue from aeronautical fees vs. Gatwick’s XX% → higher exposure to airline pricing power

🔹 Southend Airport (Carlyle Distressed Play)
• 2021: Carlyle lent £125M to Esken during COVID
• Debt ballooned to £193.8M → equity swap = XXXX% control
• £32M committed capex + unique asset: only London airport with 24/7 operations and no curfew

Distress + monopoly dynamics = textbook PE arbitrage.


XXXXX engagements

![Engagements Line Chart](https://lunarcrush.com/gi/w:600/p:tweet::1949614274784964844/c:line.svg)

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