Investment banks Citibank (NYSE: C) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) will be retained as advisers to the British government during the sale of Government and London & Continental Railways, when its Channel Tunnel rail link is sold in 2010.
The move to sell various railway assets including “the Tote” and the “Dartford Crossing” are part of the U.K. Government’s plan to sell £16 billion ($27 billion USD) worth of assets.
Both Citibank and UBS have been working for the Department of Transportation as well as London & Continental Railways respectively on the reorganization and break-up of the business, which will also include property around the St. Pancras International station in London. Effectively, the British government has nationalized London & Continental Railways, which built the Channel Tunnel link this summer.
Industry sources have commented that with the two banks’ advisers recent experience with LCR made them the only sensible choice to take care of the sale. The adviser, commenting to the Independent, stated “It would be utterly ridiculous to have anyone other than UBS and Citi working on the sell-off.” He said, “The restructuring isn’t finished yet, and that has been incredibly complicated.”
The rail link is now known as High Speed 1.
