§ Mr. Greg Knightasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement about arrangements for employees to acquire shares in the offer for sale of Rolls-Royce plc.
§ Mr. Geoffrey PattieSpecial arrangements will be made for employees to acquire shares in the offer for sale. All United Kingdom employees of Rolls-Royce with at least 12 months service will be entitled to approximately £70 of free shares, plus approximately £2 of free shares for each year of service. Secondly, eligible employees who invest up to £150 in the offer will be entitled on a 2:1 basis to further free shares up to £300. Thirdly, eligible employees will be 9W entitled to a discount of 10 per cent. on the offer price of any further shares purchased in the offer, subject to a maximum purchase value of £2,000.
In addition to these special arrangements, all eligible employees, irrespective of length of service, and pensioners of Rolls-Royce residing in the United Kingdom will be entitled to make priority applications at the offer price for up to 5 per cent. of the offered shares, subject to a maximum purchase per employee or pensioner of £10,000.