According to an article in the most recent Sunday Times, Isle of Wight ferry company, Wightlink, made a whopping profit of £17.7m last year!
A clipping of the report sent to us by OnTheWight reader, Peter Rogers, claims the company could now be sold for £300m – a cool £70m more than it was bought for just three years ago from Australian bank, Macquarie.
The ferry company was bought by Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners LLP, who last year underwent a management buyout and became Basalt Infrastructure Partners.
It’s thought the ferry company could be seen as an attractive investment for local authority pension funds.
Rogers: IWC should invest in community Port
Peter Rogers, who had also sent the clipping to Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart on Sunday afternoon, but has not yet had a reply or acknowledgement, said,
“I can’t understand why we don’t make our regeneration priority ownership and control of a community Port with a sustainable infrastructure.
“With at least three or four roll-on roll-off (RORO) berths, we would then allow other ferry companies to compete, but most importantly we would be in control of our future economic destiny.”
Huge profits for rival too
The other Isle of Wight RORO ferry company, Red Funnel, was also sold last year, rumoured for around £320m.
Image: stevensnodgrass under CC BY 2.0
