The Treasury's u Standardisation of PFI contracts-Version 4" (SOPC4)1 provides detailed guidance to Authorities when writing a PFI contract.
Section 18 (pp 124-127) of SoPC4 contains guidance on change of ownership clauses in a PFI contract, indicating where it may be appropriate to restrict ownership in a PFI contract to address the specific concerns of an Authority. For example, in the interest of national security in a defence project, or where an authority wishes to prevent tobacco companies holding shares in a school. The provisions within this section allow an Authority to ensure that there are adequate restrictions on the organisations that are able to hold shares in a PFI company.
Section 21 (pp 145-146) provides for Contractor Defaults which lead to termination of the PFI Contract if not remedied. One of the defaults is failure to comply with the change of ownership provisions. If there is a transfer of shares in the Contractor to an unsuitable third party and that unsuitable shareholder fails to transfer its shares to a suitable third party the Authority has the right to terminate the PFI Contract.
___________________________________________________________________