§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether City firms involved in the sale of British Telecom shares, as underwriters and in other capacities, had any privileged access to the shares; and whether the same limitations as applied to the general public, in terms of the maximum number of shares allotted to each purchaser, also applied to such firms and their employees.
§ Mr. Butcher[pursuant to his reply, 4 June 1985, c. 136]: Fifty-five per cent. of the United Kingdom offer of British Telecom shares was placed at the beginning of the offer period with over 2,000 institutional investors, who also undertook to purchase any of the shares to be offered to the public which remained unsold at the end of the offer 492W period. These arrangements were set out in the prospectus and noted in my hon. Friend's statement of 16 November 1984. The remainder of the United Kingdom offer was allocated to members of the public, BT employees and other firms and institutions, on the basis announced by my hon. Friend on 3 December 1984. Employees of City firms involved in the offer were subject to the same application and allocation process as members of the public.