Rothschild has won a competitive pitch process to advise the UK government on the sale of its remaining £1.5 billion stake in Royal Mail. The deal is set to be one of the most high-profile in the UK this year as it marks not only the delivery company's return to private-sector ownership but potentially its return to the equity markets for the first time since its IPO debacle.

The UK government, which sold a 70% stake in the company in a highly controversial initial public offering in October 2013, issued a statement on Thursday outlining £4.5 billion worth of measures to bring down debt, including a sale of the 30% stake in the delivery company it still owns.