LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank's RREEF Infrastructure and a European infrastructure fund run by Babcock & Brown have made a joint first-round bid for London's Gatwick airport, a spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.
Spain's Ferrovial put Gatwick up for sale late last year, with indicative bids due in at the start of this week.
Gatwick, one of the seven British airports in its BAA group, is being sold under pressure from competition regulators.
RREEF and Babcock & Brown's European infrastructure fund are bidding via the "Gatwick Future Partnership" vehicle, advised by law firm Cameron McKenna, Deloitte, and the engineers Arup.
Dominic Helmsley, BAA International's former business development director, and Richard Jeffrey, former managing director of Edinburgh airport, are also advising the group.
Sources familiar with the matter had said on Monday that the RREEF-Babcock & Brown consortium would bid.
Confirmed rival bidders include: Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP); Germany's Hochtief; and Citigroup unit Citi Infrastructure Investors, Vancouver Airport Services and John Hancock Life Insurance Company, who are bidding jointly as the Lysander Gatwick Investment Group.
Manchester Airport Group and 3i Infrastructure have both previously said they would look at a bid, though neither would comment further this week. (Reporting by Quentin Webb, editing by Will Waterman)