Service company Amey has accepted a rescue plan by its two partners to ensure the part-privatisation of the London Underground.

Amey, based at Sutton Courtenay, near Abingdon, is in financial difficulty after spending large sums bidding for public-sector contracts to build and maintain roads, railways, hospitals and schools.

But maintenance group Jarvis and US construction giant Bechtel said they would take on Amey's equity stake in Tube Lines, a consortium bidding to run part of the Underground.

Amey is effectively selling its stake in the consortium for £60m, split equally between Jarvis and Bechtel.

Amey will keep an option to buy back the potentially stake by June next year.

Any profits that Tube Lines makes between now and the exercise of Amey's option will be put into a holding account. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has said the Treasury will financially protect the Tube Lines consortium from any further delays caused by legal challenges from Mayor Ken Livingstone, who is opposing privatisation.

The deal ensures that Amey can recover some of its multimillion pound bid development fees.

Amey said it was still in discussions with its bankers, who "remained supportive", and a financial statement would be issued shortly by acting finance director Eric Tracey, who was seconded from accountant Deloitte & Touche.

Following a collapse in its share price, Amey, which earlier this year axed 300 jobs, is selling other equity stakes in Private Finance Initiative schemes.