QinetiQ privatisation has been completed with the sale of £257m shares.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has sold the remainder of its shares in international aerospace and defence group QinetiQ, raising £257 million for the taxpayer.

Over 124m shares have been sold at a price of 206p each, completing the final stage of QinetiQ’s privatisation.

The sell-off completes the two-tier deal which has been dogged with controversy and was named as “profiteering at the expense of the taxpayer” by the UK Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in June 2008. Taxpayers have lost out on almost £100,000 through the handling of the deal, according to PAC.

Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Baroness Taylor commented on the completion of the takeover: “I am pleased to announce that with this sale of shares in QinetiQ we have completed the final stage of its privatisation. Although we no longer have a financial stake in QinetiQ, we will retain a special share in the company to protect the UK’s defence and security interests.”

QinetiQ Non-Executive Chairman, Sir John Chisholm, added: “The MOD’s sale of QinetiQ shares is consistent with its previously stated intention that it would sell its entire holding of ordinary shares. Our commercial relationship with the MOD is unaffected by this sale.

“MOD retains its special share in the company which has no economic value but, in common with other privatised companies with strategically important roles, allows the Government to protect the national interest.”

Headquartered in Hampshire, UK, QinetiQ has operations worldwide and employs more than 8,000 staff in Europe, Middle East and Australasia – as well as more than 5,500 in North America.

The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and joined the FTSE250 in June 2006. Its revenues increased 19% to £1.4 billion for the full year to March 2008 whilst underlying earnings per share rose 19% to 13.4p per share.

For more information, visit: www.qinetiq.com

By Natasha Piscitelli