The UK government has confirmed its intention to sell its 40 per cent stake in high-speed rail operator Eurostar.
In a bid to raise £20 billion in asset sales by 2020, the Treasury is looking to sell its share of the cross-Channel rail service, which it jointly owns with French national rail operator SNCF (55 per cent) and SNCB (5 per cent).
The government’s stake in Eurostar was held through London and Continental Railways (LCR), which in 1996 won the contract to build and operate HS1 and to own and run the UK arm of Eurostar International. In June, the 40 per cent holding was transferred to Her Majesty’s Treasury in anticipation of the sale.
UBS is to act as financial advisor to the sale, which the government is looking to complete by early 2015.
Eurostar recorded revenues of £882 million in 2013. The service also saw record passenger numbers, transporting 10 million people in a year for the first time.
