Sale of UK assets to world’s largest money manager means huge payday for bankers

Global Infrastructure Partners, whose portfolio includes Gatwick, sold to BlackRock in $12.5bn deal

From the humble luggage tray to filters that mask smells at sewage plants, the sale of some of Britain's most pedestrian assets to the world's largest money manager is to bring a multimillion-dollar payday to a small clutch of little-known bankers.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which boasts a $100bn (79bn) collection of companies including Gatwick airport and the Suez wastewater group, has been sold to the US investment firm BlackRock in a $12.5bn deal.