Public and private partnership stakes up for sale as Carillion goes to market

Carillion, the listed construction group, will raise up to £100m by selling equity stakes in a range of public private partnership (PPP) contracts, including spy centre GCHQ.

The Dutch Infrastructure Fund, which raised €200m (£172m) for investments last year, and rival Innisfree are among potential bidders. The stakes within the portfolio might be sold piecemeal because in some there are joint-venture partners that have first right of refusal.

Also up-for-sale is a portfolio of infrastructure stakes owned by Henderson Global Investors worth more than £100m. It is believed that the stakes are mainly assets inherited from the acquisition of John Laing, the PPP specialist, in 2006.

The market for PPP and infrastructure stakes between original and new investors is buzzing. Michael Ryan, the former managing director of PPP investor I2, is raising a fund of around £300m with two colleagues. The fundraising should be completed by early 2010.