The end of the affair
By Nick Heath
Published: 10 September 2008 14:35 GMT
The controversial privatisation of defence tech firm QinetiQ has been completed.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) sold its remaining 19 per cent stake in QinetiQ, previously the UK's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, on Tuesday raising £254m for the taxpayer.
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The sale completes a contentious deal that saw the taxpayer lose out on almost £100m according to parliamentary watchdog the Public Accounts Committee.
Minister for defence equipment and support Baroness Taylor said the privatisation has transformed a struggling agency into a successful company employing 13,000 people, raising £830m for the UK taxpayer during the MoD's ownership of the company.
She said in a statement: "QinetiQ and its staff can be rightly proud of what the company has achieved since it was created in 2001. They remain a very important supplier to the MoD and we wish them every success."
Taylor said that although the MoD no longer has a financial stake in QinetiQ, it will retain a special share in the company, to protect the UK's defence and security interests.
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