British Telecom sale huge task

Press, 28 April 1984, Page 7

British Telecom sale huge task

By

DIANA DEKKER

in London

Detailed plans for the privatisation of British Telecom are expected to be presented to the British Parliament soon after it returns from its Easter recess.

Agreement on the main elements of the privatisation of the £8 billion giant was supposd to have been reached by Easter.

Once Parliament has given the go-ahead, seminars and mass marketing moves aimed at selling shares first to city institutions and then to investors in Britain and overseas will begin. Shares are expected to be on sale late in the British autumn. A network of stockbrokers around the country has been recruited by British Telecom’s advisers to help sell the stock. An advertisement on Brit-

ish television designed to show the huge size and problems of floating British Telecom cn the Stock Exchange shows air traffic controllers • guiding the whole of Manhattan in to a safe landing. The advertisement comes from British Airways, next in line for action in the British Government’s privatisation drive.

Shareholders in British Telecom will collectively be investing in 77,000 telephone boxes, 6600 exchanges and 20 million miles of trunk telephone circuits. Observers say British Telcom will be regarded as long-term investment rather than high-growth stock.

Privatisation of British Telecom, the world’s fourth largest telecommunications system, will involve a 51 per cent sell-off to shareholders.