A ferry company that serves the Isle of Wight has been put up for sale for more than £250m.
Red Funnel, one of two big operators that link the island to the mainland, is being sold by Prudential’s Infracapital infrastructure arm.
The sale comes amid record demand for UK infrastructure assets. Infracapital bought Red Funnel about a decade ago for a reported £200m and has appointed Australian bank Macquarie to sell it.
Red Funnel traces its roots back to 1861. It employs about 460 staff and carries about 3.4m passengers and 900,000 cars a year.
Two years ago rival ferry service Wightlink was sold by Macquarie to an offshoot of construction giant Balfour Beatty. Red Funnel made profits of £17.6m in 2015, 23% up on