Misleading headline because it refers to a 30 year contract - not ownership of the tunnnel.
However :
The British government will sell a 30-year contract to run the rail route linking the Channel Tunnel with central London to a group of Canadian investment funds for 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion.)
The concession to run the 68-mile (109 kilometer) High Speed 1 line was awarded to Borealis Infrastructure Management and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, U.K. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said today in a statement.
Britain’s coalition government is selling High Speed 1 as part of an asset-disposal program aimed at paying down a 155 billion-pound budget deficit. The award is a setback for Groupe Eurotunnel SA, which runs the Channel Tunnel and bid with its shareholders Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Prudential Plc.
“It’s an enormous amount of money,” Hammond said. “It shows that the decisive action this government has taken to reduce the deficit is already paying dividends. Passengers will also benefit hugely as HS1 seeks to attract new services.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-05/canadian-funds-buy-right-to-run-u-k-high-speed-rail-line-for-3-4-billion.html