§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps were taken by(a) his and (b) other departments to secure a fully independent valuation for Actis. [179186]
§ Hilary BennThe directors of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) Group plc had a duty to ensure that the company received full value for the transfer of assets and the sale of Actis LLP to management, staff and DFID. The Independent Committee of the CDC board (comprising the independent non-executive directors) instructed KPMG to carry out an independent valuation and to report to them.
DFID and HM Treasury were consulted about this and concurred with the process used to arrive at the valuation. The Shareholder Executive has also endorsed it.
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§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations his Department received from other companies regarding the formation of Actis as a limited liability partnership. [179187]
§ Hilary BennNo representation have been received from other companies about the formation of Actis as a limited liability partnership.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what advice he received from the National Audit Office about the separation of CDC into two corporate entities and a family of funds. [179184]
§ Hilary BennIt is not the function of the National Audit Office (NAO) to provide advice to Ministers on policy matters. The role of the NAO is to audit the accounts of all government departments and agencies as well as a wide range of other public bodies, and report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which government bodies have used public money.
DFID has kept the NAO informed about the proposals for the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) and will be passing a full set of documentation to them upon completion of the restructuring.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he received from(a) current and (b) former CDC employees about alternative bids for Actis. [179185]
§ Hilary BennNo alternative bids have been received from either former or current employees of CDC.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development which companies not related to the Government were involved in the reorganisation of CDC; and how they were involved. [179188]
§ Hilary BennA variety of companies assisted in the reorganisation in an advisory capacity as follows
Clifford Chance, Alien and Overy and Field Fisher Waterhouse (legal advisers)PricewaterhouseCoopers (tax adviser)KPMG (due diligence)Rothschilds (financial advisers)Credit Suisse First Boston and Campbell Lutyens (private equity advisers)Towers Perrin (remuneration adviser)Whitehead Mann (recruitment adviser)Acanchi (branding adviser)McKinseys (business strategy and incentive scheme adviser)Financial Dynamics, LLM Communications (communications advisers)Watson Wyatt (employment and pension advisers)
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 8 January 2004,Official Report, column 15WS, on reorganisation of CDC, what the responsible business principles are that Actis will be following. [179189]
§ Hilary BennThe Responsible Business Principles that Actis will follow are set out in exact detail in Schedule 11 to the Member's Agreement, which I signed 1217W on 2 April. A copy of the full document will be placed in the Library once the completion date for the reorganisation is reached.
The Principles are unchanged from those that the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) has been applying since 1999. Briefly, they set standards for Actis in the areas of business integrity, social and human rights, environment and health and safety. They also prohibit investments in military equipment, illegal drugs, gambling, pornography or tobacco. It sets out the procedures to be followed to comply with these and requires Actis to obtain an undertaking to comply with similar principles from each potential investee company.