The UK has announced it will sell its 40% stake in Eurostar, the high-speed rail operator connecting London and Paris.
The expected £300m will help “reform the British economy and tackle our debts”, according to Chancellor George Osborne.
Eurostar is owned by three countries: Britain has a 40% stake, French state-owned railway SNCF has 55% and the Belgian counterpart SNCB hold the remaining 5%.
Observers do not think that SNCF will make a bid, but that infrastructure, pension and insurance funds will.
Eurostar saw its revenues increase by 7% last year to £857m, with a 4% increase in operating profits of £57m. Greater numbers of business travellers helped boost growth.
The company paid £18m in dividends last year.
Last year passenger numbers finally reached 10m, a goal which Eurostar had initially expected to hit by the end of 1997.
The British government is trying to raise £20bn from the sale of state assets by 2020. Since 2010 it has raised £11bn.
