Privatisation is DEFINED by the sale of the assets to a "joint stock limited liability company" which issues shares to investors.

But, as we are increasingly seeing - and I am getting a really good hearing for this unconventional approach here (Scotland) particularly from the minority SNP government - you don't need to sell the assets in order to sell some of the revenues from the assets.

Blackstone recently did just that when they cashed in soome of their chips using a Limited Partnership structure and the Chinese bought in to their future revenues.

It really isn't that difficult: virtually the entire Canadian (listed) capital market is now configured in this way, as between conventional shares on the one hand, and (trust-based) units in listed Companies' GROSS revenues on the other.

Trust law is complex and costly, but it works nonetheless.

There is no reason why a parallel solution short of privatisation should not be implemented in Germany.ie the railways stay in public ownership, but German pension funds invest in "units" of the railways' GROSS revenues.


"The future is already here -- it's just not very evenly distributed" William Gibson