At least three groups are preparing to bid for Britain's only high-speed rail link ahead of a mid-August deadline, according to people familiar with the matter, although other companies remain on the sidelines and could bid.

The deadline is the next stage in the sale process, which will see the rail-link sold as part of a series of measures by the U.K. government to trim a gaping budget deficit.

The winning bidder for High Speed 1, or HS1 Ltd., will receive a 30-year concession to run the 68-mile railway line between London and the Channel Tunnel. The price of the asset is likely to be in a range of EUR1.5 billion and EUR2 billion, the people said.

One consortium consists of Eurotunnel PLC (ETL.LN) and two of its shareholders-Infracapital, owned by Prudential PLC's (PRU.LN) asset management arm M&G Investments; and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS). A second includes the infrastructure arm of Morgan Stanley (MS), and 3i Group PLC's (III.LN) infrastructure arm, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, people familiar with the matter said.

According to press reports, a third consortium made up largely of Canadian pension funds including Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, or Omers is also bidding. Omers and Borealis declined to comment.

Canadian pension funds have recently been active in acquiring U.K. companies. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Onex Corp. (OCX.T) teamed up to bid for engineering firm Tomkins PLC (TOMK.LN), while the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan recently bought U.K. lottery operator Camelot. Borealis, part of Omers, worked with Manchester Airports Group to bid for the U.K.'s Gatwick airport last year.

Other funds have looked and continue to look at the rail asset, but it remains unclear whether they will submit offers, people said.

The consortia includes bidders who made it through a so-called "pre-qualification" process. They have been invited to submit expressions of interest by Aug. 17.

The U.K. government is on a mission to cut spending and raise cash as it tries to plug a budget deficit that is estimated at about 11% of Gross Domestic Product, or about GBP155 billion for the fiscal year ending 2011. The high-speed rail line cost about GBP6 billion to build and opened in November 2007.

UBS A.G. (UBS) is advising London & Continental Railways Ltd., the subsidiary of the U.K. government which owns the rail link, on the sale.

-By Jessica Hodgson; Dow Jones Newswires; +44207 8429373; jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com.
Tomkins (NYSE:TKS)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De May 2024 a Jun 2024 Haga Click aquí para más Gráficas Tomkins.
Tomkins (NYSE:TKS)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Jun 2023 a Jun 2024 Haga Click aquí para más Gráficas Tomkins.