Royal Mail’s Place in the Sun Privatisation, Issue 1352

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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LESS than six months after dismissing tax havens as “sunny places for shady people”, with what is likely always to be his most significant act in government – privatising Royal Mail – business secretary Vince Cable has sent a big chunk of a public service to just such a place.
The largest shareholder in Royal Mail, with almost 6 percent or around £300m worth of the shares, is now the Children’s Investment Master Fund – a typically aggressive hedge fund that belies its cuddly name – and Talos Capital Ltd.

The former is a £5bn Cayman Islands hedge fund (which has funded a charitable foundation bearing a similar name) with a manager located in the island. It earns the serious money before passing a fee to UK management outfit the Children’s Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP. Talos Capital is a Dublin company that pays no tax on its income with the help of Ireland’s accommodating laws.

Commercial confidentiality
As for other large shareholders to whom the government sold up, since none yet holds more than 3 percent of Royal Mail’s shares they do not have to be declared.

Cable’s department, which recently published a paper on “company ownership: trust and transparency”, refuses to disclose names because of “commercial confidentiality” but won’t say how this obligation arises in the second golden age of shareholder democracy.

OH YEAH?

9 October: Business secretary Vince Cable tells parliament he’ll sell Royal Mail to “responsible long-term institutional investors”, not “spivs and speculators”.

11 October: On the first day of trading 231m Royal Mail shares are traded, 44 percent of the total 521m issued.

25 October: After two weeks’ trading, 440m shares have been traded, 84 percent of the total issued.

[motch]

what's the total traded now - 90%+?

[Budfrog]

what's the total traded now - 90%+?

I would start to worry if it was above 90%