BAA in talks with Swip on asset sales

AIRPORT operator BAA is understood to be in exclusive talks with Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) over property asset sales as the company seeks to hive off non-core assets to reduce debt.

BAA – whose parent company, Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial, is in the process of selling non-core assets to reduce a 22 billion (20bn) debt pile – made no official comment.

But a source with knowledge of the negotiations said: "We are currently in exclusive talks with Scottish Widows."

Morgan Stanley is handling the sale of BAA's stake in its Airports Property Partnership (APP), which owns airport hangars, warehouses and offices and has been valued at about 400 million.

A spokeswoman for Swip said: "The Swip Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust specialises in buying industrial airport property and when assets become available we consider these potential opportunities. However, it is not our policy to comment on market speculation."

Swip, which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, is one of Europe's largest asset managers, handling funds worth about 142bn.