By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The Government is courting some of the world's biggest private equity groups about a potentially controversial plan to acquire a major stake in Royal Mail.
I have learnt that advisers to the Coalition have in recent weeks begun reaching out to the buyout firms - which include CVC Capital Partners, the owner of Formula One motor racing - to gauge their interest in an investment in Royal Mail.
Insiders said on Wednesday that the private equity firms being courted also included Carlyle Group, which bought the defence research firm QinetiQ from the then Labour administration in 2003, and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US-based firm whose British investments include the parent company of Boots.
Lazard and UBS, the investment banks overseeing the discussions with the buyout firms on behalf of ministers, are understood to be informing them that a deal with a private equity investor is "a Plan B route" that would only be formally pursued if a flotation of Royal Mail is ruled out.
Michael Fallon, the Business Minister, has made it clear that the Government has not ruled out any options for injecting private capital into Royal Mail, which it argues is essential as part of efforts to modernise the company's systems and processes.
An initial public offering (IPO), possibly as early as this autumn, has emerged in recent months as the preferred route for ministers. A decision to hand at least 10pc of Royal Mail to employees has now been enshrined in legislation, and would remain the case however the Government elects to offload a major interest in the company.
Any eventual proposal to sell a stake in Royal Mail to a private equity group would, though, inevitably spark opposition from the CWU, the main postal workers' union, which is resisting the move to inject private capital.
The extent of interest among the private equity firms being sounded out about a deal is unclear.
CVC has an extensive track record in the European postal services sector, and is in the advanced stages of planning an IPO of bpost, the Belgian postal group.
The firm, which also owns a stake in the Danish postal service, was also the furthest advanced party in discussions to acquire Royal Mail during the most recent attempt to privatise it in 2009. The then Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, abandoned that effort when it became clear that a sell-off would not deliver value for taxpayers.
Royal Mail is expected to be valued at between £2bn and £3bn this time around, having transformed its business prospects by shedding jobs, returning to profit in its core letters business, and shedding its historic pension liabilities under a deal with the Government.
Carlyle is also thought likely to be interested because of the significant profits it made on its QinetiQ investment between 2003 and 2007.
Earlier this week, Sky News revealed that a further debate was taking place in Whitehall about whether the 13,000 employees of Royal Mail's European parcels arm, GLS, should be included in a share distribution plan.
A private contractor is being hired to administer an employee share ownership scheme, although it is unclear whether that will involve tens of thousands of postmen and women being handed free shares or being invited to subscribe to discounted shares.
A BIS spokesman said: "No decisions have been taken on the form or timing of the sale of shares in Royal Mail."
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