Put Royal Mail stock into posties' hands

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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The odds that the government will float some or all of Royal Mail this autumn are narrowing. The City’s most plausible rainmakers are pitching for the position of share-distributor-in-chief for the proposed initial public offering. Leading the privatisation will carry a special cachet for the winner, who could be chosen soon.

The deal, worth £2bn-£3bn if the government decides to sell out in one go, would be middling. But Royal Mail is a national institution with a brand licensed from the Queen. So competition is fierce.

UBS is the government’s long-term adviser on the sale. But the bank is not the automatic choice to be “lead book runner”. This might sound like an exhausting librarianship, but denotes a mandate that looks less daunting than previously. Rising deliveries of goods ordered online could underpin a growth narrative for Royal Mail, which has offloaded its pensions liabilities.

Lazard is HM Treasury’s other consigliere, but as an independent lacks underwriting firepower. Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are advising Royal Mail. Contenders outside the charmed circle include JPMorgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley.

Even as City folk vie for privatisation battle honours, the Communication Workers Union has been debating whether the Labour party should commit to renationalising Royal Mail. What with last week’s outbreak of Thatchstalgia, it feels just like the Eighties again.

Older unionists hanker after Clause Four. Younger ones may prefer an IPO over a stake sale to an employee-baiting private equity house. Ministers will, meanwhile, be mindful of financial buyers’ fondness for buying low, selling high and generating embarrassing headlines.

The best option is an IPO in which a tranche of free or discounted shares are offered to Postman Pats to neutralise hostility at the Greendale sorting centre. The shares should not be locked censoriously away in a trust or a mutual structure. Tory hard man Michael Fallon should twist Liberal Democrat arms to ensure this. If you’re going to bribe people with their own assets, do it properly. It’s what
Mrs T. would have wanted.

[fishtank]

It’s what Mrs T. would have wanted.

I didn't even know there was a Mrs T...
Shut up Murdock , you crazy fool!

[borders]

like a bunch of vultures circling around their prey..... does my head in

[DirtyHarry]

What is about to happen to our nation's postal service, as has happened to our railways, our utilities, is the unacceptable face of capitalism.