§ Mr. Nelsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Chichester on 26 February 1982, Official Report, c. 522, whether he will update the list of sales of publicly owned shares in companies and of the merchant banks advising in each case.
§ Mr. RidleyThe following table shows the major sales of publicly owned shares in companies which have occurred since my reply to the hon. Member for Chichester on 26 February 1982, together with the merchant bank advising in each case, but excluding those held by the British Technology Group. A final figure for the National Freight Company is also included.
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Value £ million Merchant bank 1981–82 National Freight Company 5 J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company Limited 1982–83 Britoil* 627 S. G. Warburg and Company Limited Associated British Ports Holdings† 46 J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company Limited * Partly paid—£255 million in November 1982 and£293 million in April 1983, and including a debenture payment of£92 million. Expenses of£13 million have been deducted. ‡ Provisional estimate including loan repayment of£25 million. The following table shows the sales of shares in companies held by the BTG but not included in the earlier reply. The nature of any advice, including merchant bank advice, taken by the BTG prior to making disposals is a matter for the BTG. The National Enterprise Board has been subsumed into the BTG since the earlier reply.
Company Receipts£ million 1982 George P. Brown 1.05 Twinlock plc* 0.36 Thermax 0.35 Ferranti Resin Ltd. 0.003 Francis Shaw plc 0.2 * BTG shareholding retained.