London Southend Airport strengthens its capital structure and positions the airport for continued growth
London Southend Airport today announced that it has agreed a transaction with key stakeholders to significantly strengthen its financial position and secure the future growth of the airport.
As part of this transaction, global investment firms Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG) and Cyrus Capital Partners, key financial stakeholders of London Southend Airport have agreed to recapitalise the airport. This recapitalisation plan, once completed, will also provide up to £32m of new funding to the airport.
London Southend’s Chief Executive Officer, John Upton, said: “This is great news for everyone connected with London Southend Airport – for our people, passengers, airline partners and local communities. Carlyle and Cyrus both have extensive experience across the aviation industry and deep knowledge of our Airport.
“Their commitment to our future delivers both certainty and stability and will enable us to accelerate our growth plans with their considerable investment capability and operational expertise.”
Carlyle and Cyrus Capital Partners said: “Carlyle and Cyrus are excited to work closely with John and the rest of London Southend Airport’s management team to capitalise on the many opportunities ahead. This transaction combines our financial strength and expertise with new funding to secure the airport’s long-term future for the benefit of all stakeholders and ensures the airport is well-positioned to thrive.”
John Upton continued: “With a fast-growing population of approaching eight million within an hour, and with other London airports facing a capacity cliff edge, we are ideally placed to serve those airlines looking to grow their operations in the London market.
We are also already seeing our passenger volumes double year-on-year as we bring on new destinations with easyJet, Aeroitalia and other airlines. Following this transaction, we expect to further increase the pace of our growth. As we continue to grow, more and more passengers are also taking advantage of our frequent and fast train services* to and from London. For our people and our local communities, this exciting news strengthens our ongoing investment in our highly skilled workforce, 80% of whom live within minutes of the Airport as well as enabling us to do even more with our various local partnerships.”
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About London Southend Airport
London Southend Airport, ranked the best London airport by consumer group Which? six times and voted the best UK airport (under three million capacity) by the Airport Operator’s Association in 2019.
Serving close to 2.3 million passengers in 2019, London Southend offered services to around 40 domestic and European cities. The terminal has its own railway station, less than 100 paces from the main entrance, with up to six trains an hour at peak times to central London, taking just 52 minutes to Liverpool Street and 43 minutes from Stratford. All airport car parks are located minutes from the terminal entrance.