InfraBridge, a unit of US-based fund manager DigitalBridge, is preparing to sell its stake in Australia Pacific Airports Corp. (APAC), the owner of the Melbourne and Launceston airports, according to multiple sources.

Two of them said JP Morgan has been lined up to manage the sale, while a third said JP Morgan is the likely adviser, although it hasn’t been formally appointed.

The third source also said InfraBridge and other unnamed investors could sell down 10% of the asset.

InfraBridge is the rebranded global infrastructure business of AMP Capital, which DigitalBridge bought at the beginning of last year. InfraBridge inherited the APAC position from AMP Capital, which made the investment in 2017, according to the InfraBridge website.

One of the first two sources said the sale was related to the winding-down of an AMP closed end fund. InfraBridge acquired four investment funds with USD 5.6bn in assets under management when it bought the AMP business, including the USD 1.4bn Global Infrastructure Fund I and the USD 3.4bn Global Infrastructure Fund II.

Separately, InfraBridge has hired JP Morgan to sell a stake in Newcastle International Airport in the UK.

Dexus, which bought AMP Capital’s domestic infrastructure business, is also a major shareholder in the airports group – with a position predating InfraBridge’s – alongside IFM Investors, the Future Fund, SAS Trustees and Utilities of Australia.

A fourth source doubted whether the sale would be a large one, predicting that Dexus will simply reorganize holdings within the existing owners.

Melbourne and Launceston airports are leased by APAC for a 50-year term from the federal government, with an option for a further 49 years. Melbourne Airport was leased in 1997; Launceston in 1998.

Just over 35 million passengers used Melbourne Airport in the financial year ending June 30, according to the airport website. The total was made up of 24 million domestic passengers and just over 11 million international passengers.

The overall figure was 94% of the 37 million passengers who travelled through Melbourne Airport in the 2019 financial year before the pandemic.

In the first five months of this year, 638,943 people flew into Launceston, setting a record for the Tasmanian airport. At the same time that Launceston announced the passenger numbers, it noted that Qantas increased freight capacity at the airport by replacing a Boeing 737 serving Australia Post with a larger Airbus A321.

Spokespeople and officials at Dexus, DigitalBridge and JP Morgan either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.