Japan Airport Terminal Rises on Ownership Bill Report (Update2)

By Makiko Kitamura

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Airport Terminal Co., the operator of terminal buildings at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, rose the most in a week in Tokyo trading on a report that the government will shelve a plan to restrict foreign ownership.

Japan Airport Terminal rose 97 yen, or 5.4 percent, to close at 1,905 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

A decision on a bill that would limit overseas stakes in the country's airports to less than a third of voting shares will likely be made next year, the Nikkei newspaper said today, without saying where it got the information. Australia's Macquarie Airports last year led a group that increased its stake in Japan Airport to almost 20 percent.

``We made it very clear when we increased our stake to 19.89 percent that we wouldn't be increasing our stake above 19.89 percent,'' Macquarie Airports spokeswoman Karen Halbert said by telephone from Sydney. That position hasn't changed, she added.

Macquarie Group Ltd., the world's largest private manager of infrastructure such as airports and toll roads, scours the world for assets that generate stable cash flows. It typically sells these assets to its funds.

Macquarie Airports' other airport stakes include 72 percent of Sydney Airport Corp., 54 percent of Brussels Airport Co., 32 percent of Bristol International Airport in the U.K. and 53 percent of Copenhagen Airport A/S.

The bill is part of Japan's plan to privatize airports in the country including Narita International Airport Corp., operator of the country's main international gateway.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in Tokyo at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 28, 2008 01:33 EST

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