§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on negotiations for the sale of the National Freight Company.
§ Mr. David Howell:Agreement has now been reached about the terms on which the Government's shares in the National Freight Company Limited are to be sold to a consortium of managers and employees. This follows detailed negotiations since when it was announced that the Government were considering an offer on behalf of such a consortium. The Government have been represented throughout these negotiations by an independent merchant bank, Schroder Wagg, and has accepted its recommendations to agree to the sale now at the price of £53.5 million.
The consortium will now go ahead with its plans for raising this sum with a view to completion in January.
The agreement provides for the deficiencies in the Company's pension schemes to be funded from the proceeds of sale, as provided for under Section 49 of the Transport Act 1980. After allowing for this the net payment to the Government will be around £6.5 million.
With this sale, a major road haulage company is transferred in good running order to the private sector where it belongs. The managers and employees acquire a business which they are confident they can run successfully and competitively, entirely free from Government control and no longer dependent in any way on public finance.