In disposing of its assets the government used a number of different methods including
selling shares to a single buyer, usually another company (e.g. the sale of Rover);
selling shares to the company’s management and workers (e.g. the management buy-out
of the National Freight Corporation); selling shares on the open market for purchase by
individuals and institutions (e.g. the stock market flotation of British Telecom). In some
cases the process took place in several stages, as a proportion of shares was released onto
the market over several years (e.g. BP); in other cases a one-off sale occurred, with
investors invited to subscribe for the whole of the equity (e.g. British Steel).