The Bow Group, whose president is the former prime minister, calls an independent investigation into the how Royal Mail was valued at £3.3bn but is now worth £5.5bn.
A think tank led by Sir John Major has called for an independent inquiry into the flotation of Royal Mail declaring that the sell off was “catastrophically undervalued.”
The Bow Group, which claims to be the oldest conservative think tank in the UK, has said the historic privatisation was a “short-sighted firesale” that has “robbed” taxpayers of a “valuable national asset.”
The Business Select Committee on Wednesday said Goldman Sachs and UBS “misled” the Government and “let down” taxpayers by valuing Royal Mail at just £3.3bn. Shares in the 500-year-old delivery service have jumped from 330p a share to more than 550p. Bankers denied undervaluing the company and insisted that 330p was the clearing price for 600m shares. But the Bow Group said there had been a “massive undervaluation” of Royal Mail.
“It should now be clear to even the staunchest supporters of the government’s flotation of Royal Mail that the company was catastrophically undervalued and Britain has lost money,” said Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group.
He added: “There needs to be an independent inquiry to uncover how such a degree of error occurred. Ultimately Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills, should answer to an independent inquiry on the reasons behind the rushing through of the privatisation and its massive undervaluation.”