§ Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list all the companies in which his Department has made an investment for whatever purpose since 1979, the amounts involved by company, and the reason for the investment.
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerShare investments have been made in the following companies since 1979.
598W
Company Amount Reason £ million BL plc 1,430 To finance the company's corporate plan.
Company Amount Reason £ million Rolls-Royce Ltd. 305 As sole shareholder in Rolls-Royce Ltd. the Government set financial targets for the company and in the course of setting these targets have agreed to make contributions to the company's external financing requirements. The company has been independent of Government equity funding since 1983. Kearney and Tracker Marwin Ltd. 1,233,935 'C Redeemable Preference Shares of £1 each were acquired in October 1981 in substitution for the Department's shareholding in KTM Machine Tools (Holdings) Ltd, wound up on 1 June 1982.