Chaos surrounds Qinetiq privatisation

LOSSES & LAWSUITS

But the scandal then grew when the British press disclosed that key members of the Qinetiq management team would be making significant sums of money as a result of the IPO, with the words 'fat cats' appearing in several headlines. In late January, the UK's National Audit Office said it would be conducting a study on how Qinetiq's privitisation was being handled, including the original sale of a 30.5% stake in the firm to US private equity firm the Carlyle Group in 2002 for just £42 million – the current privatisation will net Carlyle an estimated £150 million. Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Cazenove and Merrill Lynch are handling the IPO, while ABN-Amro Rothschild is acting as an adviser. It's the first UK privatisation since the government of John Major sold British Energy in July 1996.