8. The maximisation of sale proceeds seems to have taken precedence over the financial robustness of NATS. No operable contingency plan existed to cope with the risk of a severe and sustained downturn in air traffic. Departments undertaking deals should ensure that such plans exist and that financial structures are robust enough to support them.
9. The Airline Group acquired a 46% share, a majority on the Board and operational control of NATS despite having paid only one sixteenth of the purchase price, the rest being financed by loans repayable by NATS itself. Departments undertaking PPPs should ensure that their chosen strategic partners accept risk commensurate with their control of the business and the accompanying responsibilities.
10. The Airline Group declined to provide NATS with further financial support. Leaving only the government shareholder to meet such financial requirements is difficult to reconcile with the concept of risk sharing in public / private partnerships.