§ Mr. Arnold Shawasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an announcement about the proposed sale of British Petroleum stock.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe invitation to underwrite the sale of 66,785,591 ordinary stock units of £1 each of the British Petroleum Company Ltd. at £8.45 per142W unit was made this morning, and has been successfully completed. The Bank of England are issuing a Press notice giving more particulars. The detailed terms of the offer will be advertised in the Press on 19th and 20th June. Copies of the prospectus and application forms will be available at main post offices and from the Bank of England and branches, main branches of many banks in the United Kingdom, the banks underwriting the offer and the brokers to the offer. Preferential consideration will be available to occupational pension schemes— including insurance company funds related solely to such schemes—and employees of the BP Group in the United Kingdom and certain other territories. Certain preferential consideration will also be available for sub-underwriters. In addition, we have been concerned to give favourable treatment to small investors and whilst it would be wrong to limit in advance the discretion that must necessarily be exercised when making allocations in the event of over-subscription, this concern will be taken into account.
A Supplementary Estimate will be presented to the House to provide for the expenses of the sale, including any arising from indemnities given to the underwriters, the company, the directors and certain officers of the company, and the Bank of England, through a token Subhead.