Old MEB shares? Still valid?

Bluefairie56

My dad recently died and I found a certificate for 300 shares in the old midlands electricity board. He used to work there so it could have been that or he may have bought them at some point. If they are somehow still valid they are probably worth nothing but where do I even start. I tried to find out yesterday who took over MEB  but failed. As far as I know for the last 6 years he has not received any dividends but can’t say what happened prior to that.  For the small amount of shares is it worth pursuing and if yes then where do I begin? 

Hoenir

The share certificate will have no value other than to collectors. Once upon a time the company was in the FTSE100. Long since been split up and the parts sold on through various owners. 

wmb194

Bluefairie56 said:

My dad recently died and I found a certificate for 300 shares in the old midlands electricity board. He used to work there so it could have been that or he may have bought them at some point. If they are somehow still valid they are probably worth nothing but where do I even start. I tried to find out yesterday who took over MEB  but failed. As far as I know for the last 6 years he has not received any dividends but can’t say what happened prior to that.  For the small amount of shares is it worth pursuing and if yes then where do I begin? 

You didn't find its Wikipedia entry? "In 1990, as part of the privatisation of the UK electricity industry, the board became Midlands Electricity plc. The new business was split up, and sold several times: the supply business to Npower in 1999, the distribution business to GPU Power UK, who continued to use the ‘a Midlands Electricity company’ tagline for a couple of years, and then sold to Aquila, under whose short ownership it was renamed Aquila Networks,[4] before being purchased by Powergen in 2004, becoming Central Networks, part of E.ON."

25+ years ago your Dad will have received cash for selling them and/or shares in other companies. He should have thrown this certificate away when it became defunct but it's common for people not to and then perplex their executors.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midlands_Electricity

Bluefairie56

Thanks for the info.

TillyTheGreat

Thanks for that info.  I have the same problem; yes, it's so easy to 'keep everything' and confuse those left behind.