Editing Qinetiq (section)

===Stock exchange listing===
On 12 January 2006, an announcement was made in Parliament by [[John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan|John Reid]], Secretary of State for Defence, regarding the pending floatation of QinetiQ. Reid stated that the Carlyle Group 'will continue to retain a significant stake in the company', and that the government would continue to hold a '[[golden share]]' to protect the UK's security and defence interests.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo060112/wmstext/60112m01.htm |title = QinetiQ Shareholder Team |publisher = [[Hansard]] |date = 12 January 2006}}</ref> On 10 February 2006, QinetiQ was floated on the [[London Stock Exchange]]. The valuation of the company, and of how much taxpayers would benefit from QinetiQ's privatisation, was a subject of considerable debate and controversy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/qinetiqs-1631bn-flotation-will-sell-taxpayer-short-6111899.html |title=Qinetiq's £1bn flotation 'will sell taxpayer short' |work=The Independent |first=Michael |last=Harrison |date=13 January 2006 |access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/articledisplay.jsp?article_id=4385908&section=ShareDealing |title=News |work=Interactive Investor |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1686487,00.html |title=Frank Kane: Qinetiq arrogance has sunk this flotation to new depths |first=Frank |last = Kane |work=The Guardian |date=15 January 2006 |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4653722.stm |title=Business – Reid defends Qinetiq's sale price |date=27 January 2006 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref>

The company had been valued at between £1.1bn and £1.3bn, with the MoD holding estimated to be worth £616m – £728m, the Carlyle Group's holding £341m – £403m, and staff/management's holding worth £143m – £169m. Controversy was generated by the very large returns generated for both the [[Carlyle Group]] and senior managers at the company; reportedly [[Sir John Chisholm]] is speculated to have benefitted by over £20 million alone.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/jan/29/arms.theobserver |title = A swift killing in the defence sector |publisher = The Observer |date = 29 January 2006}}</ref> [[Lewis Moonie|Lord Moonie]], who handled the initial sale, stated in 2006 that the government's 31 per cent stake should not have been sold when equity markets were languishing in 2002. Moonie said that he had argued for the sale to be delayed, but was over-ruled by the Treasury, which had convinced the [[Ministry of Defence (UK)|Ministry of Defence]] to go ahead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.ft.com/ftArticle?sortBy=gadatearticle&queryText=qinetiq+controversy&page=2&y=0&aje=false&x=0&id=060113000988&ct=0 |title=FT.com / Search |work=Financial Times |access-date=3 April 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

Controversy also arose around the fact that retail investors were excluded from the [[initial public offering]] (IPO) due to QinetiQ's complexity and that institutional investors would require less complicated marketing and financing. This led to contrasts with the 'Sid' campaign for [[British Gas plc]] in 1986, where retail investors were encouraged to buy shares, with discounts and a large advertising campaign. The issue was partially resolved by allowing some [[brokerage firm]]s to place orders in the IPO as part of a combined order, allowing the firm to purchase as though an [[institutional investor]] but on behalf of clients. While this did not result in a public campaign or retail investor discounts, it did allow many investors to purchase shares. Upon its floating on 10 February 2006, QinetiQ had an IPO of 200p per share, resulting in a market value of £1.3bn. On 13 February 2006, shares closed at 219.5p, valuing it at over £1.4bn.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/23fb0f1e-9a06-11da-8b63-0000779e2340.html |title = Qinetiq IPO raises £290m |newspaper = Financial Times |date = 10 February 2006}}</ref>

Speculation that a consortium including QinetiQ was about to win a £10bn MoD training contract helped push their share price back above 190p in early November 2006. It was announced on 17 January 2007 that the QinetiQ-led [[Metrix UK|Metrix consortium]] was the preferred bidder for package one of the MoD's Defence Training Rationalisation programme, worth approx £16bn.<ref>[http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=257220&NewsAreaID=2 South Wales home for defence training hub]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
[[Image:RV Triton bow.jpg|thumb|right|240px|QinetiQ's experimental {{RV|Triton}}]]