KEY POINTS:
Infratil's Lloyd Morrison, who will seek a seat on the Auckland Airport board next month, expressed an interest in buying the airport when initial sale talks were held this year.
The Business Herald understands Morrison was involved in the sale process of the airport around the time Dubai Aerospace and Canada Pension Plan first expressed their interest, but the Infratil offer price was well short of board expectations and the Wellington Airport owners did not get approval to do due diligence.
The discussions are understood to have been subject to a confidentiality agreement and no one from the Auckland Airport board was prepared to comment yesterday.
Morrison could not be reached for comment but Infratil's Tim Brown down-played the seriousness of any discussions and he saw no conflict of interest between the sale talks and Morrison's current bid for a seat on the board.
"There really is no relationship," he said. "There is no live conversation occurring."
He declined to comment on the details of the talks citing the confidentiality agreement.
Morrison is one of three candidates who last week put their hats in the ring for a board seat at the company's annual general meeting on November 20.
Auckland City Council has nominated Richard Didsbury to represent its 12.75 per cent and Manukau has put forward John Brabazon to represent its 10.5 per cent stake. Infratil - in partnership with New Zealand Superannuation Fund - holds a 6.2 per cent stake.
A vote will be held at the airport's annual general meeting on November 20.
The airport's constitution allows for up to eight directors and there are currently just five on the board.
So in theory all three candidates may be able to join existing board members.
However there has been no word yet on how many of the current board will seek re-election.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has presented the airport board with three options for acquiring a minority stake in Auckland International Airport.
They included an all-cash option of $3.70 a share, the CPPIB board said yesterday. The other two involved a mix of cash and shares in a new airport company which would be structured to "provide enhanced returns while preserving the investment grade rating".
The second two options would provide value up to $3.90 a share - 10c a share more than the value of the failed offer by Dubai Aerospace (DAE).
The board has said it is still working through the proposal before its recommendation to shareholders.
While it is possible that the current board could present the CPPIB offer and make a recommendation before the November 20 vote, it is understood to be unlikely that a formal offer document could be signed off before then.
Infratil has indicated it would like to see the sale process started again from scratch now that uncertainties about council expectation have been resolved.
Auckland City and Manukau City have both indicated they would be prepared to consider a bid for a stake of about 40 per cent provided the proposal allowed them to maintain their current levels of ownership.
Auckland Airport shares closed up 5c yesterday at $3.07.
Airport owners
* Auckland City holds a 12.75 per cent stake.
* Manukau City holds 10.5 per cent.
* Infratil holds 6.2 per cent, in partnership with the New Zealand Superannuation fund.
* Any bid for less than 100 per cent of the shares will require approval of 75 per cent of shareholders.
Sale saga
* May - A raid on Auckland Airport shares by Macquarie Airports.
* June - Airport board outs Canada Pension Plan as a potential buyer citing on market buying by the large state owned investor.
* July - Dubai Aerospace launches a bid for 51 per cent of the airport - backed by the Airport board. It proposes to pay $3.80 a share in cash, scrip and dividends.
* August - Dubai pulls the plug on its offer after an adverse public reaction kills any chance of council support for the deal.
* September - The Canada Pension Plan investment Board unveils a proposal to buy a minority stake in airport.
* Last week - Infratil's Lloyd Morrison put his name forward for a seat on the Auckland Airport board.
