Among the bidders is Hong Kong billionaire Mr Li Ka-Shing's company Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI), which is 85% owned by Hutchison Whampoa, a company chaired by Li. Another bidder is GB Speedrail, a consortium consisting of Eurotunnel, Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners, M&G Infracapital, Britain's Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), and the infrastructure arm of France's Caisse des Depots et Cosignations (CDC).
A consortium of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is also thought to have submitted an offer along with a Canadian partnership of Borealis, the infrastructure investment arm of Ontario Municipal Employees, and the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan.
London Continental Railways, the state-owned company responsible for HS1, is overseeing the bidding process as the British coalition government looks to sell the link which opened in November 2007 at a cost of £6 billion for between £1.5 and £2 billion to raise cash to reduce its estimated budget deficit of £155 billion.
