Chris Josselyn

BAA says it remains in talks with ‘a number of bidders’ about the potential sale of Gatwick Airport, despite press reports that the last interested party, a consortium comprising Manchester Airports Group and Borealis, has dropped out of the running.

A consortium of heavyweight investors including Allianz, RREEF and Goldman Sachs, is reportedly the sole remaining bidder in the auction to acquire the Swedish energy company’s German transmission grid.

The airports operator says a proposed special insolvency regime would be bad news for investors.

Manchester Airports Group and Borealis are now in pole position to acquire Gatwick Airport after BAA rejects GIP’s £1.35 billion bid. The elimination comes less than a week after Citigroup's Lysander group was dropped from contention.

The Lysander consortium, which includes Citi, Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance, has been eliminated from the race to acquire London’s second airport after submitting a 'significantly undervalued' bid.