The long-awaited break-up of the UK’s biggest airport group began on Wednesday after BAA reached an agreement to sell Gatwick to the owners of London City Airport for £1.5bn. The sale to Global Infrastructure Partners, which was approved late on Tuesday night by the Competition Commission, ends a tortuous process that started a year ago when BAA, a subsidiary of Spain’s Ferrovial infrastructure group, put Gatwick up for sale in an attempt to head off competition concerns about its market dominance. Join discussion...

Global Infrastructure Partners, the owner of London City airport, made a 1.3 billion-pound ($2 billion) to 1.4 billion-pound bid for Gatwick airport that was rejected by BAA Ltd., said two people familiar with the matter. The fully financed offer was turned down May 17 on the grounds that it was too low, said the people, who declined to be identified because the details aren’t public. BAA, which also operates London’s Heathrow and Stansted airports, was seeking at least 1.5 billion pounds, one of the people said. Join discussion...

Debt-heavy Australian ports operator Asciano Group Ltd (AIO.AX), which put itself up for sale last week, is attracting interest from private equity funds, but faces a tough job convincing its lenders after missing a previous target to sell assets. Join discussion...

Three bidders — including Manchester Airports Group and its partner Canadian pension fund Borealis — remain in the race for the airport. Global Infrastructure Partners, backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric and Lysander Gatwick Investment, a consortium consisting of Citi Infrastructure Investors, Canada’s Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance of the US, are still believed to be in the race. Join discussion...

Groups led by 3i Infrastructure Plc and a Deutsche Bank AG fund have withdrawn from the auction, three people familiar with the situation said. German builder Hochtief AG was taken off a shortlist last month and executives from Citi Infrastructure Investors and Global Infrastructure Partners say they’ll bid but that a lack of funds is hampering progress. Join discussion...

The disposal of the second largest UK airport will begin with the issuing of an information memorandum to potential bidders and a timetable for the sale, which is expected to call for first indicative bids in the third week of January. Join discussion...