What an interesting time for MoD to selling Qinetiq shares !!

Could this be considered insider trading should the MoD drop Metrix. IE Share prices are bound to sink even further if Metrix are withdrawn as preffered bidder for Package 1 ?? ??

What an interesting time for MoD to selling Qinetiq shares !! 

Qinetiq stake sale raises £257m

By Sylvia Pfeifer and John Willman

Published: September 9 2008 08:59 | Last updated: September 9 2008 08:59

The government raised £257.3m from the placing of its remaining stake in Qinetiq, the defence technology group that was privatised in 2003 and floated in 2006.

The Ministry of Defence placed its holding of 124.9m shares, representing 18.9 per cent of the company’s ordinary capital, at 206p –=2 06p above the original float price and 1p above the level at which Carlyle Group sold out at in February 2007.

The shares fell nearly 8 per cent on the news in early trade to 206.6p before closing down 6.04 per cent, or 13½p, at20210p.

Tuesday’s sale was not unexpected and came just days after its shares reached a record high of 235¼p last week. The sale is good news for the cash-strapped MoD.

The department said it would retain a substantial proportion of the proceeds, with the rest being diverted to the exchequer for “government spending priorities”.

It said: “The government always made it clear that it anticipated selling its entire financial stake in order to realise its financial investment and to achieve best value for money for the UK taxpayer.”

The contentious privatisation of Qinetiq in 2003 was criticised by MPs for giving bad value for money to the taxpayer. However, the government has been trying to sell state-owned assets such as the Tote and its stake in British Energy as the fiscal deficit has swollen. In December, the Liberal Democrats warned against premature sales to fill the deficit in the public finances at a time of stock market turn..

With an announcement expected towards the end of the month what message is this sending out if any !!!

War profiteers Carlyle group

Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA ContractorBy CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD...(CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD...) Another spectacular acquisition was QinetiQ, the privatized arm of Britain’s military research corporation. It was acquired by Carlyle in 2003, sold in 2007, and recently emerged as one of the premiere US intelligence contractors ...CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE... - http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/

Privatisation of Qinetiq audit office missing report

Privatisation of qinetiq - audit office missing report
Radio silence from the NAOThe National Audit Office has not been short of publicity with revelations that MPs have ordered a review of how it is run after it emerged that the man in charge of the public spending watchdog had spent almost £350,000 on foreign trips in just three years. The Public Accounts Committee said last week its inquiry would focus particularly on the role of Sir John Bourn, the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Among other things, the study will look at whether the NAO should be overseen by a separate advisory board staffed with new non-executives. Now it seems that the PAC is also taking an interest in a piece of unfinished business: the NAO's report into the privatisation of Qinetiq, the Government's defence research group.Launched in January 2006, there are still no signs of the report despite drafts having been in circulation since March. It was initially expected to be published by the end of last year and more recently this summer. So far, there has been nothing but radio silence. Now it appears that the NAO is coming under pressure from the PAC to release its report. Two civil servants have been summoned to appear in front of the PAC in December.

The inquiry is looking at whether the Government short-changed taxpayers over Qinetiq. Its privatisation was controversial from the start, ever since the Government first sold a stake in the business to Carlyle, the US private equity group. A draft of the NAO's report, details of which were obtained by this paper in March, criticised the Ministry of Defence, accusing it of allowing the management to reap "excessive" rewards.It was all strong stuff, which is why it makes it easy to suspect that ministers are trying to have some of the more juicy parts taken out. The longer this saga continues, the more likely it is that when taxpayers finally get to read the report it will make far less interesting reading than the draft.

Watchdog is accused of being too cosy with the defence industry
Daily Mail - This could put him in an embarrassing position because the NAO is due to release a potentially explosive report into former MoD subsidiary QinetiQ, ...See all stories on this topic

BAE boffins receive a writ for blowing up Qinetiq's defence ...Guardian Unlimited - UKQinetiq, the defence research firm rumoured to be the inspiration for Q, the inventive gadget master in the James Bond films, is suing BAE Systems for ...See all stories on this topic