British Coal (Hansard, 20 December 1994)

§ Mr. Tipping
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the value of British Coal's land and property holdings; how far this value will be reduced by liabilities and contamination; what nature of disposal into the private sector is proposed; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Charles Wardle
The various options for the future of British Coal's non-operational property portfolio are currently being considered by British Coal in consultation with the Government. No decisions have been taken.

§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on progress in discussions with the preferred bidders for the regional coal companies in the privatisation of the mining business of British Coal.

§ Mr. Eggar
[pursuant to his reply, 2 December 1994, c. 939–40]: The Government have agreed with Celtic Energy, subject to contract, that Celtic will acquire the South Wales Coal company for £94.5 million; £88.4 million would be payable at completion. Of the balance, £4.9 million would be payable with interest in instalments over the three following years. Final payment of £1.2 million is expected in two instalments, with interest, in 1999 and 2000.
The bid price has been adjusted as envisaged in the information memorandum. The adjustments reflect developments since tenders were submitted in September 1994 or information which was not available at the time. The main adjustments relate to changes in the expected level of stocks, and certain liabilities and price information disclosed after bids were submitted. Celtic's bid price following these adjustments still clearly represents best value for money.
The Department will shortly lay a minute before the House describing certain limited warranties and indemnities which it proposed to give to Celtic Energy.
The acquisition price would also be subject to certain technical adjustments following completion to take account of differences between the value of certain assets and liabilities as estimated at signature of the acquisition arrangement and the corresponding value to be established at completion.