United Kingdom announces sell-off of shares - The British government has announced a sell-off programme for a number of shares it holds in companies, in an effort to reduce the country's debt. It is planning on the partial or total sell-off of half of its share-holdings in 21 companies over the next five to eight years, according to an announcement made by the Shareholder Executive, the agency in charge of state privatisation. The first to go will be in the world's second-biggest uranium enrichment company, Urenco (31% of market share) in which a third of the capital is publicly owned. The rest is held by the German state and German public service groups, such as RWEG and EO.N. According to experts, selling off its total share in Urenco could bring in at least €2 billion for the United Kingdom Treasury. The UK postal service, the Royal Mail, could be next on the list to be auctioned off, as early as this summer or in the autumn. London is also committed to selling off a student loan portfolio worth £900 million. Even smaller companies could be sold off; these would include the Met Office (in charge of the meteorology), Companies House, which manages the registration of limited companies, Plasma Resources, which markets plasma derivatives (the group is worth £200 million, according to estimates), the British Land Registry and even the Ordnance Survey, in charge of the country's maps. The British state is also planning ultimately to sell off its stake in banks, such as Royal Bank of Scotland (82%) and Lloyds (39%). Companies managed by the Shareholder Executive have a total turnover worth £13 billion. Only one or two of these companies is expected to remain publicly owned. (IL/transl.fl)