This list of privatizations provides links to notable and/or major privatizations.
Argentina
Aerolíneas Argentina (1990) – former national carrier; renationalized in 2009. Agua y Energía Eléctrica (1992–95) – national electricity production company; partitioned and sold. Buenos Aires Underground (1994) – given under concession but still owned by the State. Empresa Nacional de Correos y Telégrafos (ENCoTel, 1997) – given under concession as Correo Argentino. Re-nationalized in 2003. ENTel (national telecommunications company, 1990) – partitioned and sold to France Télécom and to Spanish Telefónica. Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA, 1995) – sold to Lockheed Martin. Ferrocarriles Argentinos (1991–95) – railway lines all over the country (partially re-nationalized). Gas del Estado (1992) – national gas company partitioned and sold, among others, to the Spanish Gas Natural company Naturgy. Obras Sanitarias de la Nación (water company, 1992–93) - given under concession to the French conglomerate Suez, which operated it under the name Aguas Argentinas; re-nationalized in 2006 as Aguas y Saneamientos Argentinos (AySA). Segba (1992) - partitioned and given under concession to Edesur, Edenor and Edelap. Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF, 1991–92) – national oil-company sold to the Spanish Repsol. The Argentinian government in 2004 set up a new state oil company (Enarsa) from scratch, which proved of no use. In 2012, the Argentine Government expropriated 51% of the shares of YPF owned by Repsol.
Australia
Commonwealth Oil Refineries 1952 Under Liberal Optus 1985 Under Labor Commonwealth Bank of Australia 1991 Under Labor Qantas 1993 Under labor Commonwealth Serum Laboratories 1994 Under Labor Electricity and natural gas supply companies in Victoria 1995 Under Liberal Telstra 1997 Under Liberal Public transport in Melbourne 1999 Under Liberal Electricity Trust of South Australia 1999 Under Liberal Sydney Airport 2002 Under Liberal Medibank 2014 Under Liberal Commonwealth Industrial Gases Government Cleaning Service in New South Wales Government Insurance Office in New South Wales Government Printing Service in New South Wales State-owned betting-agencies in most states Under Liberal and Labor Many long-distance and urban passenger railway services Under Liberal and Labor All freight railway services Under Liberal and Labor Most State-owned banks Under Liberal and Labor
Austria
Source:
1950s Soviet Mineral Oil Administration (1955; partial privatization — a small portion of oil companies returned to Western owners; the majority transferred to the newly established state-owned OMV) Creditanstalt (1956–1997) Länderbank (1957; partial privatization — 40% of shares sold to private investors: 30% were non-voting preference shares, while the 10% voting shares were allocated to institutions affiliated with the SPÖ and ÖVP)
1970s Siemens AG Österreich (1972; partial privatization — majority stake of 56.4% transferred to German parent company Siemens; Austrian state holding ÖIAG retained 43.6%))
1980s Lenzing AG (1985–1990s; the privatization process began with its listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange — full state ownership was phased out during the 1990s) OMV (1987–96; government retains 31.5%) Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik (1988; fully privatised through a management buyout) Verbund (1988; partial privatization through IPO — 49% of shares were listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, the government retained 51%)
1990s Simmering-Graz-Pauker (1992–1994; the company is now part of Siemens) voestalpine (1992–2005) Voest-Alpine Eisenbahntechnik (1992–94; privatized in stages — became VAE, which was jointly acquired by voestalpine and Vossloh in 1998; fully owned by voestalpine by 2003 and now operates as voestalpine Railway Systems) VA Technologie (1994–2005; partial privatisation began with IPO in 1994 — additional shares sold in 2003 and 2005; acquired by Siemens in 2005 and later integrated into Primetals Technologies) Böhler-Uddeholm (1995–2003; IPO in 1995 — gradual reduction of state stake until full privatization by 2003) Voest-Alpine Stahl AG (1995–2003; initial tranche of 31.7% sold in 1995 — further shares were divested in 2001 and 2003, completing full privatization) VA Bergtechnik (1996) Voest-Alpine Erzberg (2004) Austria Mikro Systeme International (1993–94; now operates as AMS-Osram) A.S.A. Abfall Service (1993; fully privatized through sale to Électricité de France — acquired by FCC Group in 2005 and now operates as FCC Austria) AT&S (1994) Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment (1995) Schoeller-Bleckmann Edelstahlrohr GesmbH (1995) Bernhard Steinel Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH (1995) Weiler Werkzeugmaschinen (1995) GIWOG-Wohnbaugruppe (1996) Vamed (1996; government retained 13% until 2024) AMAG Austria Metall AG (1996) Salinen Austria (1997) Mobilkom Austria (1997) Wiener Boerse (1999) Bank Austria (1997–98) Austria Tabak (1997, 1999, 2001)
2000s Österreichische Postsparkasse (2000) Telekom Austria (2000–2006; privatisation began with an IPO in 2000 — additional tranches were sold over the following years, and the state retained a minority stake of 28.42% after 2006) Vienna International Airport (2000, 2001; regional governments of Vienna and Lower Austria retain 40%) Österreichische Staatsdruckerei (2000) Dorotheum (2001) Österreichischer Bundesverlag (2002; was a formerly state-owned educational publisher, responsible for producing school textbooks and other educational materials; today it's part of Klett Gruppe.) Strohal Rotations Druck (2002) BMG Metall und Recycling (2004) BUWOG (2004; privatised through sale to Immofinanz — later spun off and acquired by Vonovia, becoming part of the largest residential property group in Europe) Austrian Post (2006; government retains 52.8%) Bank Burgenland (2006; the regional state bank owned by the state of Burgenland was sold to GRAWE) Austrian Airlines (2009; acquired by Lufthansa Group)
2010s Funkhaus Wien (2016)
2020s EuroTeleSites (2023; partial privatization through IPO - A1 Telekom Austria Group spun off its radio tower division and listed it on the Vienna Stock Exchange; the state retains an indirect stake via ÖBAG) Vamed (2024; government sold its remaining 13% to Fresenius) Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo (since 2025; ongoing divestment process — Wiener Stadtwerke announced in 2025 that it intends to sell its freight transport subsidiary WLC to CER Cargo)
Bahrain
Bahrain Telecommunications Co. (Q1 2005, $800 million)
Bolivia
Brazil
Banco do Estado do Maranhão S.A Banespa BB Turismo CEDAE CELMA CSN Eletrobras Embraer Embratel Light Petrobras Distribuidora RFFSA Sabesp Terminal Pesqueiro de Manaus Terminal Pesqueiro de Vitória Telebrás Usiminas Vale do Rio Doce VASP
Canada
Teleglobe (1987) – an international telco carrier Air Canada (1988) Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (1989) Telus (1991), formerly Alberta Government Telephones Petro-Canada (1991) Nova Scotia Power (1992) Canadian National Railway (1995) Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (1996) Manitoba Telecom Services or MTS (1996) Highway 407 (1999) – leased to private operators Ontario Hydro (1999) – only partially privatized with Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation, a publicly owned company and crown corporation respectively Uranium industry in Saskatchewan
Chile
CAP S.A. Chilectra Colbún S.A. CTC Enaex Empremar Endesa Entel Esval IANSA Lan Airlines Pension Funds (AFP) Soquimich
Czechoslovakia Virtually everything after the Velvet Revolution in 1989; see voucher privatization for details.
Egypt
Abt Associates Inc.; sponsored by Government of Egypt, Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and United States Agency for International Development; November 2000. Retrieved 20 April 2011. In 2011, STIA, also known as El Nasr Wool & Selected Textiles, of Alexandria, remained "one of the largest public sector textiles companies."STIA Home, company website. Retrieved 20 April 2011. biscomisr corona Company for foods industries (former Alexandria Confectionary and Chocolate) Alexbank Heliopark Telemisr Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemicals Industries Company Abou Zaabal Fertlizers and Chemicals Industries Company Egyptian Financial Industrial company (EFIC) Eastern Company for Tobacco and Cigarettes Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling Company Commercial International Bank Madinet Masr For Housing and Development (former Madinet Nasr For Housing and Development) Vodafone Egypt (former Masr Fone "click") Orange Egypt (former Mobinil) Ezz Steel (former Alexandria alwatania for Iron and Steel) e-finance Ideal (former Industrial Delta Company) Al-Ahram Beverages Company Pachin paints Quicktel Elnasr for Clothing and Textiles "KAPO" Alexandria for spining and textiles "spinalex" pepsi cola Egypt Cocacola Egypt schweppes Egypt AZRIMOT EGYPT (Former Al Ahli Financial Investments Management Company "AFIM") Al-Ahli Real Estate Development (Alahli-Sabbour) Telecom Egypt (Privatizated 30% ) Ras El Hekma agreement with Abu Dhabi–based ADQ Suez Cement Helwan Cement Torah Portland Cement South Valley Cement Alexandria Cement Ameriyah Cement Assuit cement Bani suif Cement Egypt Free Shops Egyptian Starch & Glucose Egyptian Electro Cables Modern Textiles (Bolivara) was taken over & merged by United Arab for Spinning and Weaving (UNIRAB) Kafr El Zayat for Insecticides Arabia Cotton Ginning Nile Cotton Ginning Middle East Co. for Paper SIMO Siklam Dairy Products Factory San Stepheno Hotel : Lands and Premises Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Egypt Le Méridien hotel Egypt Legacy Hotels Company Helnan hotel Egypt Sonesta hotel Egypt Semiramis InterContinental Hotel Egypt
Finland Finnair Sonera (former Telecom Finland)
France
1980s
Compagnie Générale d'Electricité became Alcatel (1987) Havas (1987) IN Groupe (1993) Matra (1988) Paribas – privatized in 1987 and merged with BNP to form BNP Paribas Saint-Gobain – created in 1665 by minister of Finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert; privatized in 1986 Société Générale privatized in 1987 Suez – privatized and merged with the stated-owned Gaz de France (GDF) in 2008 to form GDF Suez TF1 – first TV channel of France, privatized in 1987
1990s Arcelor (1995) Assurances Générales de France (1996) Groupe Bull (1997) CNP Assurances (1998) Compagnie générale transatlantique (1996) – merged with CMA to form CMA CGM Crédit Industriel et Commercial (1998) Crédit local de France (1991) Le Crédit Lyonnais (1999) Elf Aquitaine – privatized in 1994; absorbed by Total Eramet (1999) Gan (1998) Pechiney (1995) Renault (1996) – the French state still have 15.01% of the shareholding SEITA (1995) – now Altadis Total Union des Assurances de Paris (1994)
2000s
Aéroports de Paris – the French State remains the major shareholder: 52% Air France – opening shareholding open in 1999. Merged with KLM and merged to form: Air France-KLM (as 2004, the French State remain 44%). As of 2012, the French State remains 15.8%. Électricité de France (EDF) (in December 2005 France sold 30% of EDF) French Highway Concession A'lienor – sold to Eiffage (65%) and Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France (35%) Alis – sold to Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France Société des Autoroutes de Paris Normandie – sold to Vinci Société des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France – sold to Abertis (52,5%); the rest is owned by other investors Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône – sold to Eiffage Autoroutes du Sud de la France – sold to Vinci Arcour – sold to Vinci Atlandes – sold to Colas Group (subsidiaries of Bouygues) and other investors Cofiroute – sold to Vinci