Cable cleared over postal sell-off

Business secretary Vince Cable’s insistence that Royal Mail was not sold off “on the cheap” has been backed by a new report, despite its conclusion that the Government could have made an extra £180m from the £2bn sale.
The so-called Myners Report, carried out by former City minister Lord Myners (pictured), says shares could have been valued up to 30p more than the flotation price of 330p because of the high level of demand from banks and individuals. But it insisted that this would have involved “substantial” risk.
MPs have claimed taxpayers lost £1bn in the sale, but the report says the untapped revenue was far lower.
Lord Myners was at pains to stress that pricing a share sale is a difficult process, and speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said it was a complicated transaction and that “if any money had been left on the table it was pretty small”.
Cable ordered the investigation after a National Audit Office review into the sell-off said too much emphasis was put on rushing the privatisation at the expense of value for money.
The report says that a higher price could have been achieved but that “the consensus appears to be that this was the order of 20p-30p per share… equating to proceeds to government at IPO of £120-180m”.
It adds: “For the avoidance of doubt, we do not believe that a price anywhere near the levels seen in the aftermarket could have been achieved at listing.”
Cable said: “We sold at a price that was regarded as the best that could be achieved in the context in which we sold it.”

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