Scheme to avoid Royal Mail sell-off discussed

Plans to inject capital into Royal Mail that would avoid the need to sell part of the postal group have been discussed by senior Labour MPs and ministers in recent weeks, The Times has reported.

Plans to inject capital into Royal Mail that would avoid the need to sell part of the postal group have been discussed by senior Labour MPs and ministers in recent weeks, The Times has reported.

The British newspaper continues:

The talks emerged as Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, cast more doubt over the timing of legislation that would mean a 30% stake in the postal group being taken out of government hands. He wanted plans to go ahead before the general election, but, he said, they were being “jostled” for space in the legislative programme.

The MPs have been examining the feasibility of a government injection of capital into Royal Mail through either a bond issue or a debt structuring, which would avoid the need to find a trade buyer for a depreciating asset.
The MPs are seeking an alternative to the Government selling a 30% stake to the private sector and the State taking responsibility for the group’s £9bn pension hole. Royal Mail’s pension deficit is currently being revalued from £3.4bn and is widely expected to reach £10bn.

John McFall, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has been a vocal supporter of an alternative plan. McFall believes that the Government could also convert some of Royal Mail’s loans into equity, or just reschedule the postal group’s debts.

It is understood that such alternative measures for the Royal Mail have little sympathy within Lord Mandelson’s Business, Innovation and Skills Department.

The minister is adamant that all three recommendations of the Hooper review should be implemented. He said: “These are a package: reform of regulation, bailout of the pension fund deficit, and introducing the minority strategic partner. We will not do one of these without the others.”

In an interview, Lord Mandelson said: “I want to retain the slot, but . . . I have to concede that the original linking of the legislative passage and the bidding process for the strategic partner has been decoupled.”

Should Royal Mail legislation be sufficiently delayed, the Government could avoid a backbench rebellion in the run-up to the election.

On 29 June Lord Mandelson said that the economic downturn had contributed to legislation on the sell-off being delayed. CVC, the only company to lodge a bid for the minority stake in Royal Mail, declined to comment, but sources said that CVC – which submitted an initial bid of less than £2bn —was surprised by the suggestion that the privatisation was pulled partly for anything other than political reasons.

One source said that the Government would probably get even lower bids for the stake in future.

But CVC, like other private equity companies, has struggled to borrow money for big acquisitions amid the credit crunch, and other sources said that the Government believed a sell-off would raise more when the bank lending market improves.

TNT said: “We expressed interest back in December; we await the outcome of the current process.” Deutsche Post, a third bidder linked with the sale, declined to comment. The Communication Workers Union welcomed the postponement of the Bill.