Special promotional offer with Eurotunnel

The Company was formed on 13 August 1986 with the objective of financing, building and operating a tunnel between the United Kingdom and France.

The Company let a contract for the construction of the tunnel to TransManche Link. The tunnel cost around £9.5bn to build, about double its original estimate of £4.7bn. The tunnel, which was financed partly from investment by shareholders and partly from £8bn of debt, was officially opened on 6 May 1994. In its first year of operation the Company lost £925m because of disappointing revenues from passengers and freight together with heavy interest charges on its £8bn of debt.

In April 2004, a dissident shareholder group led by Nicholas Miguet succeeded in taking control of the board.[4] However in February 2005 Jean-Louis Raymond, the Chief Executive who had been appointed following the boardroom coup during the previous year, resigned and Jacques Gounon took complete control becoming Chief Executive as well as Chairman.

In July 2006, shareholders voted on a deal which would have seen half the debt, by then reduced to £6.2bn, exchanged for 87% of the equity. However, this plan failed and, on 2 August 2006 the company was placed into bankruptcy protection by a French court for six months.

In May 2007 a new restructuring plan was approved by shareholders whereby Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup agreed to provide £2.8m of long term funding, the balance of the debt was exchanged for equity, and the shareholders agreed to waive the perks that they had enjoyed for years.

Following the restructuring, Eurotunnel was able to announce a small profit - €1 million for 2007 - for the first time in its existence. Half-year earnings for 2008 have risen to €26 million (£20.6m).