British airports operator BAA has confirmed that it has accepted an offer from Spain's Ferrovial worth £10.2 billion.
The news came after US investment bank Goldman Sachs announced a rival consortium takeover bid which valued the airports group at £10.3 billion, and urged BAA shareholders to take no action while it reviewed its position.
'The board of BAA confirms that it has agreed, subject to final documentation, a revised definitive proposal from the Ferrovial consortium valuing BAA at 950.25p per share,' BAA said in an official statement. BAA said an offer at that level represented an attractive price.
BAA owns and runs seven British airports including London Heathrow.
In a separate statement, Britain's Takeover Panel said the Goldman Sachs consortium had until June 16 to announce a firm intention to make a bid, extending an earlier deadline by a week.
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh said he was optimistic about the expansion of Heathrow airport after the BAA agreement. He said he believed approval would be given for a third runway at Heathrow before the tentative target date of 2015-2020.
