Auckland Council further withdraws from airport operator

The shares of Auckland International Airport were suspended from trading on Wednesday after the airport operator announced that the Auckland City Council had begun the process of selling its remaining 9.71% stake in the company. A significant number of brokers were invited by Auckland Future Fund Trustee Limited to submit offers for a share package of 163,231,446 shares of the airport, as the company reported in a notice to the New Zealand stock exchange. Considering the closing price of Auckland Airport shares of NZD 8.08 on Tuesday, the value of the dilution package amounts to approximately NZD 1.32 billion (USD 776.03 million). Already last year, the Auckland City Council reduced its stake in the airport operator by about 7% by selling shares worth NZD 835.9 million. Analysts at Citi noted that the share sale could be seen as a "cleansing event," giving investors the opportunity to focus more on the operational and fundamental development of Auckland Airport. It remains exciting to observe how this market development will impact both the company itself and the New Zealand stock market.