The privatisation of Britain's search and rescue helicopter service was thrown into further doubt on Friday after a key member of the consortium bidding for the contract pulled out amid allegations of misconduct. Royal Bank of Scotland said it had pulled out of the Soteria consortium, which was last year named as preferred bidder for the 6 billion pound ($9.5 billion) contract to privatise Britain's air-sea rescue service.
Late last year Britain halted negotiations on the contract after Soteria, which also includes Sikorsky (part of United Technologies Corp), French defence group Thales and Canadian helicopter services firm CHC, said it had become aware of an unspecified "possible issue" with its bid. British military police have been investigating allegations of improper conduct during bidding for the contract, Britain's Financial Times reported on Friday.
"Soteria confirms that Royal Bank Project Investments Ltd withdrew as a shareholder from the consortium just before Christmas and the procuring authority was promptly informed," a Soteria spokesman said on Friday. Britain's Department for Transport (DfT) said its own investigation into the bidding process was ongoing and that "until the issues have been properly considered, it is not possible to progress the procurement."
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