Mr. John David Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry why the prospectus issued in respect of the British Telecom plc share offer was not published abroad within the countries of the European Community, in addition to Japan and the United States of America.
§ Mr. ButcherThe offer for sale of shares in British Telecom was principally a United Kingdom offering. It was considered necessary in order to ensure the success of the offer to make sales in the United States, Canada and Japan. Investors from European Community countries were able to apply for shares under the UK offer and the Government did not consider that the cost of separate offers there would be justified by the likely demand for shares.