Sold: a decade of UK infastructure assets changing hands

International Power has reopened talks with France's GDF Suez about a possible multi-billion pound tie-up between the two power companies. This could reignite the debate over foreign ownership of British companies, following a spate of takeover deals, notably Kraft's swoop on Cadbury and Deutsche Bahn's acquisition of Arriva. Engineering • Tomkins has received a bid approach from a Canadian consortium , the latest in a series of deals in engineering-related sectors. • Chloride, the uninterruptable power supply specialist, went to Emerson of the US for £997m , following a tussle with Swiss rival ABB. • In June, San Francisco-based URS won the takeover battle for British engineering consultancy firm Scott Wilson , which is a key contractor on London's Crossrail project. In May, the Office of Fair Trading announced a massive stock-take of the UK's public infrastructure – ports, airports, trains, utilities and car parks – in order to examine how they have affected competition and consumers. Over the past decade, a slew of British infrastructure assets have changed hands. Here are some more examples: Transport • Bus and train operator Arriva sold to Deutsche Bahn in April 2010 • Airport operator BAA taken over by Spain's Ferrovial in 2006 • P&O Ports sold to Dubai Ports World in 2005 • Associated British Ports bought by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs in 2006 Communications • Airwave, the UK's public safety communications network, acquired by Australian bank Macquarie from Telefonica in 2007 • Macquarie also owns broadcast and mobile communications business Arqiva Energy • British Energy became part of French group EDF in 2008 • npower has been owned by Germany's RWE for over eight years • Powergen was snapped up by Germany's E.ON almost a decade ago • Scottish Power became part of Spain's Iberdrola in 2006 Water • Thames Water was snapped up by Macquarie in 2006 • The Greenslade financial consortium, including JP Morgan, bought Southern Water in 2007 Car parks • 3i sold part of NCP, the UK's largest car park business, to Macquarie in 2007