Advent Plots £1bn Land Registry Takeover

One of London's leading buyout firms is plotting a £1bn-plus takeover of the Land Registry as George Osborne accelerates the Government's controversial privatisation spree.

Sky News has learnt that Advent International is drawing up plans to bid for the agency which holds the titles for most of the land in England and Wales.

The move could attract renewed opposition from trade unions which have warned previously that a sale of the Land Registry could undermine homebuyers' confidence in its data.

Advent, whose investment portfolio includes stakes in companies such as DFS, the furniture retailer, and the FTSE-100 payments group Worldpay, is among a substantial number of private equity groups casting their eye over the Land Registry.

The Chancellor, who said in his Autumn Statement in November that the Government would "consult on options to move operations of the Land Registry to the private sector from 2017", could set out further details of the process in this week's Budget.

Previous reports have estimated the Land Registry's value at £1.2bn, with it having recorded a surplus of almost £100m in 2012-13.

Mr Osborne has embarked on one of the most prolific privatisation sprees in British history, sanctioning the sale of vast chunks of the banking industry that were privatised during the financial crisis of 2007.

On Wednesday, he will signal the intention to sell a £16bn loan-book which was once part of Bradford & Bingley, the collapsed mortgage-lender.

Ministers have previously explored a part-privatisation of the Land Registry, including the creation of a new joint venture company which would be partly owned by private sector investors.

The alternative option considered in 2014 was to hand over the running of the agency to a private company in the form of a so-called GovCo.

The Land Registry is part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and a member of the Public Data Group within BIS.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is unclear whether it will transfer to the Treasury, which has established a new holding company for state-owned assets, ahead of any privatisation decision.

Graham Farrant, the Land Registry chief executive and chief land registrar, reports to Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, and Anna Soubry, a member of the BIS ministerial team.

The Land Registry employs thousands of civil servants, and efforts to progress a sell-off during the last parliament triggered a revolt from the PCS union and the Law Society, with union members walking out in protest at the plans in May 2014.

Sir Vince Cable, Mr Javid's predecessor, argued against the sell-off despite his enthusiasm for the injection of private capital into companies such as Royal Mail (LSE: RMG.L - news) .

Rothschild, which is one of the Government's most trusted City advisers, is working on the review of options.

Advent declined to comment.