HC Deb 23 January 1985 vol 71 cc447-9W
Mr. Blair

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing, for each of the public corporations privatised during the period 1979 to 1984, (a) the number of shareholders by size band of holding immediately after flotation and (b) the same information at each succeeding 31 December.

Mr. Moore

[pursuant to his reply, 21 December 1984, c. 357]: The information requested in part (a) of the hon. Member's question is given in the following tables. The figures do not include any Government residual shareholdings, shares held in trust for individual employees under companies' employee share ownership schemes, or any shares taken up by underwriters.

Information on the number of shareholders at subsequent times is a matter for the company concerned and is not covered in the tables. In the case of the employee buy-out of the National Freight Company, the initial allotment of shares was entirely a matter for the consortium. The sale of Jaguar was conducted by BL, and the initial allocation of shares is a matter for the company, not the Government.

Number of Shares held Number of Shareholders at time of allotment
British Aerospace
Less than 100 44,062
100–499 81,558
500–999 23,682
1,000–4,999 6,784
5,000–9,999 795
10,000–49,999 757
50,000–99,999 114
100,000–999,999 76
1,000,000+ 1
Total 157,829
Cable and Wireless
Less than 250 57,999
251–500 71,422
501–1,000 11,584
1,001–10,000 9,262
10,001–100,000 1,424
100,001–999,999 101
1,000,000+ 4
Total 151,796
Amersham International
100–499 18,900
500–999 8,538
1,000–9,999 24,280
10,000–49,999 8,373
50,000–99,999 1,521
100,000–499,999 1,682
500,000–999,999 295
1,000,000+ 151
Total 63,760
Britoil
100–499 18,598
500–999 8,099
1,000–4,999 10,283
5,000–9,999 52
10,000–49,999 118
50,000–99,999 28
100,000–999,999 67
1,000,000+ 12
Total 37,257
Associated British Ports Holdings
100–499 33,352
500–999 1,631

Number of Shares held Number of Shareholders at time of allotment
1,000–4,999 1,615
5,000–9,999 279
10,000–49,999 304
50,000–99,999 20
100,000–499,999 4
Total 37,205
Enterprise Oil
0–99 2
100–499 5,318
500–999 3,179
1,000–4,999 4,941
5,000–9,999 47
10,000–49,999 102
50,000–99,999 35
100,000–999,999 69
1,000,000+ 2
Total 13,695
British Telecom
200 or less 525,698
400 512,103
500 349,294
600 120,962
800+ 631,463
Total 2,139,520

Note: These figures relate to the shares made available through the United Kingdom public offer only.

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