Anglian Water group AWG plc has announced the sale of its loss-making leasing subsidiary Powermarque to Venson Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Venson Group plc, the independent contract hire and fleet management company. AWG will receive £34.5 million in cash.

Powermarque had net cash, before inter-company loans, of £15.6 million at 30 September 2003. For the financial year ended 31 March 2003, it made a loss after tax of £1.0 million. Its fleet is something over 4,000 vehicles strong.

Venson is an independent company founded in 1992 whose core activity is leasing and fleet management to the private and public sectors - both in the UK and internationally. It was recently awarded the contract to manage the Metropolitan Police fleet.

Ownership of more than 4,000 vehicles and 50 staff will move from Powermarque's Huntingdon, Cambs. base to the Esher, Surrey-based Venson

Powermarque retains contracts with Anglian Water and its infrastructure management arm, which it was originally set up to serve before expanding into third party vehicle supply.