What a refreshing sign from the new government that it is going to investigate why British infrastructure is being sold to foreign companies.
Sell up Eon and RWE (amongst a lot of others) and focus on your own market!
We dont need you....you need our easy market and donations from our government!
You are parasites sucking the lifeforce from our economy!
OFT to probe takeovers of UK's infrastructure
By LUCY FARNDON
Last updated at 10:55 PM on 14th May 2010
Last updated at 10:55 PM on 14th May 2010
Poaching of our transport, water and strategic assets by foreign firms and investment funds is being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading.
The watchdog is embarking on its first broad-ranging enquiry into 'ownership and control' in an attempt to find out whether consumers are being disadvantaged.
The 'open market' ethos of the UK - in contrast to many continental European countries - has led to £150bn of 'investment' into infrastructure over the past five years.
Buying BAA on the stockmarket is not the same as investing to improve airport services
But, splashing the cash on a stockmarket takeover - for example, when Spain's Ferrovial bought airports group BAA - is not the same as pumping money into improving services, particularly when the deals are funded by large amounts of debt.
Far-flung owners are also trickier to monitor, which is why the recent troubles in Dubai caused a minor panic about the fate of DP World, owner of P&O Ports.
Heather Clayton at the OFT said: 'There have been significant changes in ownership in infrastructure assets in both regulated and unregulated sectors of the economy over the past decade.
'We want to take this opportunity to step back and assess how these developments might have affected competition and consumers.'
Many of our gas, water and electricity firms are owned by overseas companies or specialist infrastructure firms such as Macquarie, Cheung Kong and Borealis.
Analysts are sceptical that the probe will lead to any major change in the attitude towards takeovers. But the OFT said it may consider further, more specific enquiries after its initial report.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1278559/OFT-probe-takeovers-UKs-utilities.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0nzdgQuPJ
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