Did the 'long-term investors' hang on to their shares?

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Analysis shows half of the 16 priority investors have sold more than 90pc of holdings, with most of the 23m shares assigned to them having changed hands
Half of the "priority investors" who received more than a fifth of the shares in Royal Mail (LSE: RMG.L - news) 's privatisation a year ago have entirely or almost entirely sold their stakes.

An analysis of the 16 investors' shareholdings compiled by the Telegraph using Bloomberg data shows that eight have reduced their stakes in Royal Mail by more than 90pc.

Only three have increased their holdings.

The investors were sold large allocations of shares because of their supposed willingness to buy big stakes for the long term, but many sold off their stakes within days as Royal Mail's share price surged following its privatisation.

The Government's approach to these shareholders was criticised by a National Audit Office report earlier this year .

More than half of the 23m shares allocated to these investors have been sold.

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) taking into account purchases of new shares by some of these investors, they own just 15pc of the publicly-traded shares,
against 23pc a year ago.

According to the Bloomberg data, six investors - Capital Research, Standard Life, Och Ziff, Soros, Lazard and Third Point - have sold their entire stakes.

JP Morgan Asset Management and Schroders have sold 94.5pc and 91.8pc respectively.

The combined share sales of these eight investors amounts to 88m shares.

At the average share price over the last year of 522p, it would represent a profit of £169m between the eight companies, given that they bought in at 330p.
Royal Mail's shares rose from their 330p offer price to above 600p in the weeks following the IPO.

This year, MPs on the Business Select Committee said underpricing the sale had cost the taxpayer more than £1bn .

The priority investors, who were seen as stable long-term shareholders of Royal Mail, generated considerable public anger when selling off shares.

Lazard in particular was criticised: Its investment banking arm acted as an independent adviser to the Government on the sale, while its asset management division sold its 6m-share holding a few days after Royal Mail's IPO at an £8m profit.

Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, has accused the Government of allowing City firms to "make a quick buck" at the expense of the taxpayer.