Exclusive: Government Hires Bankers For Air Traffic Control Sale | nats | philip_hammond | british_airways | Kleinman | Sky News Blogs
It is a busy day for the privatisation of state-owned transport infrastructure.
In the last hour or so, the Government has announced the sale of the Channel Tunnel rail link (known as High Speed 1) to two Canadian pension funds for just over £2bn.
And I can also reveal that the privatisation of the company which operates Britain's air traffic control services is about to take another step forward.
I'm told that Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, has authorised the appointment of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise the Government on a process that could see National Air Traffic Services (NATS) floated on the stock market as soon as next year. Ministers will also consider the sale of part or all of its 49 per cent shareholding to a single buyer, although the reduction of its stake below 25 per cent would require new legislation.
"The appointment is to advise Government on its options for the NATS shareholdings. All options will be on the table," a source close to the situation told me. The Government's stake is likely to be worth about £500m.
As I've reported several times over the last 12 months, the sell-off of NATS is complicated by the number of stakeholders involved as well as the regulatory and legislative implications of a sale.
A number of airlines, including British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic, own about 42 per cent of NATS. They don't speak with one voice and in the past easyJet has objected to a sale of those shares by other members of what is known as The Airline Group.
Among those interested in buying part of NATS will be Global Infrastructure Partners, the owner of London City and Gatwick airports.
BAA, the airports operator, also owns a small chunk of NATS, as does the management of the air traffic control operator, who are understood to be keen on a stock market listing for the company.
Nobody involved in the NATS process would comment today 