ABSTRACT
With the Gas Bill drafted, the principles on which the offer for sale would be made needed to be settled. In November 1985 an action plan and marketing programme for a flotation sometime in the autumn of 1986 was put together with October 1986 the favoured month for the sale.1 As in the case of the flotation of British Telecom (BT), it would be important to ensure that no other large share issues occurred immediately before the BGC sale so as not to overstretch the capital market. When it was suggested that the Treasury might try to squeeze in another privatisation before the end of the year, Rothschilds responded anxiously that this could well endanger a successful sale of BGC.2 There was also worry that there might be a large competitive private sector offer and that the TSB share issue, already planned for mid-September 1986, might detract from a successful flotation of BGC.3 Walker requested that the TSB issue be stopped, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer responded that there could be no question of the Government prohibiting other firms’ access to the capital market.4 As it turned out, the TSB sale was very successful and probably assisted in further raising interest amongst small investors in the BGC offer.
