Royal Mail Privatized

Royal Mail shares began unconditional trading on the London Stock Exchange, marking the culmination of one of Britain's most significant and controversial privatizations. The sale ended a state monopoly that traced its roots back nearly 500 years to a royal charter granted by Henry VIII in 1516. The UK coalition government, under Business Secretary Vince Cable, sold a 60% stake in the company — 10% allocated to Royal Mail's own employees and the remaining 50% offered to retail and institutional investors. Shares were priced at 330 pence each, valuing the entire company at around £3.3 billion and raising approximately £1.98 billion for the Treasury. Demand for the offering was overwhelming, reportedly oversubscribed by more than 20 times. When conditional trading opened days earlier, the share price jumped over 30% above the offer price within hours, and by the time unconditional trading began on this day, shares were trading well above their float price. The surge fueled immediate accusations from opposition politicians and trade unions that the government had significantly undervalued the historic institution, shortchanging taxpayers in the process. Despite the controversy, the sale went ahead as planned, and the government would go on to sell its remaining stake in stages over the following two years, completing the full privatization by October 2015.