§ 18. In the application of the above provisions of this Part 494 to Scotland. references to acquiring an interest shall be construed, if there is a contract to acquire the interest, as references to entering into that contract and for the purposes of paragraph 16(2)(b) above, a company or subsidiary shall be regarded as owning an interest during the period between its entering into such a contract as regards that interest and its acquiring the interest.'—[Mr. Norman Lamont.]