Gatwick Airport is being sold by its US owners to French group Vinci Airports.
US investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which bought a 50.01% majority stake in the airport in 2009, is selling its share for £2.9 billion.
The sale is expected to complete by mid-2019, when Gatwick will join Vinci Airports’ network of 46 global airports, including Lyon-Saint-Exupery, Nantes Atlantique and Grenoble Alpes Isere in France; Lisbon, Porto and Funchal in Portugal and Osaka Itami and Kansai International in Japan.
GIP partner Michael McGhee said: "We expect the transaction to be completed by the middle of next year, with the senior leadership team remaining in place.
"Their focus, along with everyone at Gatwick, obviously remains on doing their very best for customers over the busy holiday period after the challenges of recent days."
Gatwick is the UK’s second-biggest airport and the eighth-busiest in Europe by passenger numbers.
Vinci Airports president Nicolas Notebaert, said: "As Gatwick’s new industrial partner, Vinci Airports will support and encourage growth of traffic, operational efficiency and leverage its international expertise in the development of commercial activities to further improve passenger satisfaction and experience."
