§ Richard OttawayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the British Waterways Board acquired a shareholding in Easynet plc; for what reasons; and what the size of the shareholding is. [178870]
§ Alun MichaelPrior to 2000, British Waterways and GEC, each invested £147,000 into a joint venture (Fibreway), which laid fibre optic cables under many of British Waterways' towpaths and sold capacity to telecoms operators. In May 2000, GEC decided to concentrate its future activity on telecoms business, under the Marconi name and wanted to invest £200–300 million in expanding Fibreway. Fibreway was therefore restructured, and British Waterways received an annual payment and a 10 per cent. equity share in the new Fibreway business ipsaris.
In June 2001 ipsaris effectively split its business into two components. The mast site business was transferred to Ultramast and the fibre optic business was listed by way of a reverse takeover of Easynet. Marconi sold 92 per cent. of its share in ipsaris to Easynet in return for 77.5 million shares in the enlarged group. The deal meant that British Waterways received a 2.6 per cent. share of Easynet and a stake in the Ultramast business.
The fibre optic business has continued successfully as part of the Easynet portfolio and British Waterways Board now owns approximately 2 million shares in the business (1.8 per cent.). This is valued at around £2.1 million today, compared with the initial outlay of £147,500. Easynet also continues to pay an annual sum to British Waterways for the use of the wayleave.