Babcock in talks over sale of aviation emergency arm - report

According to Sky News, Babcock is in advanced negotiations with London-based infrastructure investor Ancala Partners about acquiring a substantial part of the business it bought in 2014.

Babcock, which handles the maintenance of the UK's nuclear submarine fleet, paid £1.6bn for Avincis eight years ago, but the deal rapidly became a huge financial and operational burden. Sky said that selling the division - which accounts for most of last year's aviation sector revenues of £854m - will effectively unwind the Avincis deal for Babcock, crystallising a substantial loss of value for shareholders.

If completed, the transaction is expected to value the Babcock division at around £100m.

Babcock has already sold its oil and gas helicopter aviation arm at a loss.

It was unclear on Tuesday whether the UK Air Ambulance fleet would form part of the sale to Ancala.