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A major Japanese investor plans to sell its £475 million stake in High Speed 1 and East Midlands Railway.
The decision by Mitsubishi HC Capital (MHCC) could be seen as a message to the UK Government that it lacks confidence in the latter’s programme of long-term investment and ability to return to growth after COVID-19. The fear is that it could prompt other stakeholders to follow suit.
The Times has reported that MHCC was enthusiastic about its British commercial interests back in 2016, when it was attracted by the Japan Infrastructure Initiative (JII) to support overseas infrastructure ventures.
But it is understood that MHCC has now instructed Wall Street banker Cantor Fitzgerald to begin the auction of its two shareholdings in the spring -starting with EMR, which is currently valued at £400m.
This will be followed by the £75m stake in HS1, which has responsibility for the route from St Pancras International to the Channel Tunnel, which is jointly used by Eurostar and Southeastern.
This has now led to questions being asked about Hitachi’s long-term commitment to the UK, as its Newton Aycliffe train assembly facility prepares for a wind-down of its high-speed express programme.
Less long-term professional work is in the offing, after last October’s decision to cancel the Birmingham-Manchester leg of High Speed 2. Competition could also be fierce for the order for new trains for the TransPennine Express route, that will be placed at the end of this year or early in 2025.
In November, Hitachi’s annual accounts showed that it has written down the value of its County Durham plant from £82m to just £17m, citing a production gap and the effects of inflation.
Chief Executive Jim Brewin warned the Government back in November that 10,000 jobs in the North East were at risk if the current famine of new t
