Member

At the heart of the Government's defence of these 15% ownership tranches is that the ownership will be passive. Traffic humps are passive, but they certainly change the way we drive. It seems that the Minister’s view is that the investors will just sit back, not caring about the business and editorial direction their considerable investment will be taking. This is just not plausible. Anyone who has managed investor relations will tell you that having an investor with a 15% stake in your business is not something that the executive team can ignore. Even if the stake does not come with a director, the stakeholder will have access to the CEO and the executive team. The Minister tries to cloud the issue by saying that funds with government links will not be able to buy these stakes. It is very clear that some of the funds that will be allowed by this statutory instrument will have direct links with foreign Governments.