Good morning,

Airport deals are flying thick and fast, but the selldown at Brisbane Airport Corporation has turned into a bit of a laggard.

Back in June, BAC was the first airport to duck out with a COVID-19 recovery pitch, as Igneo Infrastructure Partners′ clients sought a payday for their 12.5 per cent stake. It was followed in quick succession by investors looking to get out at Queensland Airports Limited and Perth Airport.

QAL has pulled to the front of the pack among airport deals, with flyers expected this week and Macquarie Capital and Barrenjoey toiling away to kick off the auction soon for an upsized 74 per cent stake. There’s progress at Perth Airport too, with UBS understood to have made progress with pre-emptive rights which pushes it closer to an auction.

But BAC seems stuck in limbo land.

It did a first lap of investor meetings with MacCap in June/July, and has since gone quiet. There’s no flyer, and no indications on when the process would start.

Sources said the delay comes down to the fact that despite flagging its intentions, Igneo still hasn’t officially mandated MacCap or formalised the selldown.

Then there’s the question of if anyone else on Perth Airport’s register would like to join in on the selldown, and if there’s an existing investor keen to absorb the stake.

That could mean the BAC selldown is unlikely to take off until next year – which is good news for MacCap’s infrastructure bankers, who’ve switched their attention to QAL for now.

• Five V Capital dealmakers are chasing $700 million for a fifth buyout fund, meeting with institutional and high-net-worth investors.
• Navis Capital-owned Device Technologies has hauled in $400 million from debt capital markets to refinance existing facilities and bankroll M&A.
• AirTrunk has drafted in Fortescue’s deputy chairman to lead its board, just as it begins preparations for what could be a $10 billion-plus IPO.
• Revolution Asset Management has hired Pratik Joshi, a Sydney-based vice president in Bank of America’s asset-backed securities division.
• Workplace management software group Damstra Holdings is turning into a red-hot M&A target, drafting in Jefferies and Gilbert+Tobin.

• More than 40 interested buyers have lined up for iconic frozen baked goods and desserts brand Sara Lee, which buckled after it struggled to pass through price increases to its customers, Carrie LaFrenz writes.

Prospective backers of Five V Capital’s new fund are being told to think about making 3.7 times their money in 2.9 years on realised investments – the firm’s track record on its seven exits across 11 years. That equals 63 per cent IRR.

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