The confirmation by financier Mr Dermot Desmond that he has bought a 3.7 per cent stake in the British airports group TBI has fuelled speculation that he may be interested in forging a link between TBI and his own London City Airport.
Mr Desmond disclosed yesterday that he has bought 18.6 million TBI shares but did not disclose the price paid for them. After a recent downbeat trading statement, TBI shares have fallen below 60p sterling after trading as high as 107p sterling within the past 12 months.
Mr Desmond is thought to have bought into TBI since the recent share slump and this suggests that he may have paid in the order of £11 million sterling (€18 million) for his 3.7 per cent stake. The British group owns Belfast International Airport, Cardiff Airport and Luton Airport but has expanded overseas in the past two years, buying Orlando International Airport in Florida and Stockholm Skavsta, one of the smaller airports servicing the Swedish capital.
There was speculation last year that TBI would be a potential bidder for some of Aer Rianta's Irish airports if the State airport company was broken up. Speculation on a trade sale of Aer Rianta has disappeared, with the Government and Aer Rianta apparently determined on a flotation of part of the Government holding.
Mr Desmond himself is a former chairman of Aer Rianta.
Mr Desmond's ownership of London City Airport in the city's docklands, transformed since he bought control four years ago, and his investment in TBI has inevitably focused attention on some possible link-up between the two groups.
But Mr Desmond also has a reputation as an investor in stocks he believes are undervalued and TBI, after its recent slump, may fall into that category. At its current price of 58p sterling, TBI has a market value of £287 million sterling.
Two weeks ago, TBI gave the market a nasty shock when it disclosed that trading at Luton, Orlando and Stockholm had been difficult, although Belfast and Cardiff performed well.