Sydney Airport Holdings Limited announced on Monday that it had rejected a new A $22.8 billion (US $16.81 billion) offer from a consortium of infrastructure investors and said it was willing to accept a higher offer.
The new offer values Sydney airport at A $8.45 a share, 2.4 per cent higher than the consortium's offer of $8.25 a share last month and more than a 9 per cent premium to Sydney airport's closing price on Friday.
A month ago, the Sydney Aviation Alliance (Sydney Aviation Alliance), a consortium of IFM Investors, QSuper and Global Infrastructure Partners, made an A $22.26 billion (US $16.6 billion) offer for Sydney Airport, which was rejected.
The Sydney Airport Board said in a statement on Monday that it was willing to contact the Sydney Aviation Alliance if the consortium raised the instruction price "to properly recognize the long-term value of Sydney airport security holders".
The acquisition of Sydney Airport will be one of the largest ever by an Australian company, second only to the $29 billion acquisition of Afterpay by Square, INC., a domestic US financial technology company, earlier this month.