ABSTRACT
In the UK nearly half of the previously state-owned industrial sector has been privatised since 1979. More than £25 billion has been raised for the Exchequer, over 600,000 workers have been moved to the private sector, and the proportion of people who own shares has more than trebled. This chapter focuses on macroeconomics and modalities. Privatisation was heralded by the incoming Conservative Government in 1979 as being the only way to bring lasting improvements in economic performance. Methods of sale in the UK privatisation programme have been determined by the programme’s overall objectives and by practicalities. A key initial step in assembling a privatisation programme is to create the right organisational structure within the public sector. Pricing a privatisation of shares is never easy, especially if there are not market analogues already in existence. Privatisations are an order of magnitude greater than previously-contemplated transactions and this has led to profound capital-market effects.
