Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (SACL) was incorporated on 28 May 1998 and commenced operations on 1 July 1998 [2] as the long-term lessee of Sydney Airports from the Australian Federal Government under the Airports Act 1996.[3] At the point of incorporation, it owned the leases for all the airports in the Sydney region – Sydney Airport, Bankstown, Hoxton Park and Camden – as a Government Business Enterprise.[4]
On 13 December 2000, the Australian Government announced its intention to privatise the Sydney basin airports, with Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport to be sold separately followed by the remaining three airports (Bankstown, Camden and Hoxton Park). After conducting a scoping study, the Government announced it had decided SACL would be broken up and privatised as two separate and competing companies: one company would operate Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport; and Bankstown, Camden and Hoxton Park Airports would be operated as separate companies jointly managed under another company.[5] The decision to sell Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport by a 100 per cent trade sale was made on 29 March 2001 and the Australian Government entered into an arrangement for Macquarie Bank to lease and operate the airport as Sydney Airport Holdings for a period of 99 years via its ownership of SACL.
Ownership
The owner of SACL with 100% interest was Sydney Airport Holdings until its acquisition in 2022 by Sydney Aviation Alliance Holdings Pty Ltd (SAAHPL) which comprises the following parties:[6]
In 1989, Qantas bought a 30-year lease on the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport, but sold it back to the Airport's operator in August 2015 for US$395 million.[10]
In 2002, Macquarie Bank won the bid for a 99-year lease on the airport for A$5.6 billion through consortium Southern Cross Airports Corporation Holdings Limited[11][12] which it funded through the IPO of managed airport fund – Macquarie Airports (MAP) ASX: MAP – under a combination of trusts managed by Macquarie Bank until it was spun off in 2009 to form MAp Airports (MAp). MAp owned shareholdings in Brussels and Copenhagen Airports, and an 84.8% stake in Sydney Airport.[13]
In 2011, MAp Airports traded its stakes in the Brussels and Copenhagen airports to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in exchange for the OTPP's 11% stake in Sydney airport.[14] In December 2011, MAp Airports renamed itself Sydney Airport Holdings.[15] The company retained a 1% stake in Bristol Airport until 2013.[16]
In 2013, Sydney Airport Holdings took a 100% stake in Sydney Airport by issuing securities to, or buying out, minority owners of the airport, which included various superannuation funds.[17]
In August 2013, it was revealed that, since the airport had been acquired by the Macquarie Bank in 2002, it didn't pay corporate taxes, even though all other airports in the country did.[18] In November 2013, the Macquarie Bank sold its shares of the airport back to its own shareholders, cashing $377 million in the process.[19]
^Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (25 February 2010). "Act No. 42, 1996". Airports Act 1996 (Report). Australian Government Federal Register of Legislation.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
