The investment fund BlackRock has signed a deal worth 12.5 billion dollars to acquire significant stakes in some of the most important airports in the United Kingdom. If we also consider the purchase of seaports, the amount paid rises to 125 billion dollars. Among the infrastructures acquired there is also the second airport in Great Britain, namely London-Gatwick, previously in the hands of Global Infrastructure Partners (Gip).

The acquisition of Global Infrastructure is BlackRock's largest deal in more than a decade. In fact, Gip managed 100 billion dollars in assets and oversaw over 510 trillion in investments. With this sale, the American investment fund aims to challenge the Australian rival Macquarie Group, which is particularly active in the global infrastructure market.

In 2009, Gip had benefited from the dismemberment of the British Airports Authority (BAA) in the United Kingdom, from which it had acquired London-Gatwick airport. Now BlackRock has taken over, which will be a minority shareholder behind the French management company Vinci (50.01%). With this move, the American fund also took possession of the Scottish airport of Edinburgh, the port of Liverpool and the Hornsea wind farm in the North Sea.