MADRID (Reuters) -IFM Investors said on Tuesday it had agreed to buy a 75% stake in Air Rail, the largest owner and operator of ground support equipment for airports in Spain and Portugal, as the Australian investment manager expands its presence in the Iberian market.
With the deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Air Rail founder Jose Manuel Garcia Prieto will retain a 25% stake in the company.
The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the year, IFM added in a statement.
Madrid-based Air Rail operates at more than 50 European airports and manages a fleet of more than 4,000 units of ground support equipment such as boarding stairs, pushback tractors and baggage carts, 70% of which is electrified.
Australian pension funds-owned IFM said it had invested over 10 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in Spain in the past seven years, making the country one of its top global markets.
($1 = 0.8667 euros)
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
