LONDON - Royal Mail, Britain’s 360-year-old postal service, is to be valued as much as $5.3 billion in its initial public share sale scheduled for next month, the government said on Friday.
After deciding to go ahead with the privatization of the service earlier this month, the British government said that shares would be priced between £2.60, or $4.20, and £3.30, valuing the group at between £2.6 billion and £3.3 billion. The shares are to start trading in London on Oct. 11.
‘‘This will give Royal Mail access to the private capital it needs to modernize,’’ Vince Cable, the business secretary, said in a statement on Friday. ‘‘We are encouraged by the interest shown by potential investors so far.’’
The initial public offering would be the largest privatization in Britain since British Rail in the 1990s.
As part of the sale, Royal Mail employees are to receive shares worth 10 percent of the company, which is among Britain’s largest employers, for free. About 150,000 Royal Mail staff members will be eligible for free shares, the government said.
The government plans to keep about 37.8 percent to 49.9 percent of Royal Mail stock after the sale.
A partial sale of the mail service has been discussed in Parliament for years. Previous governments shied away from the idea, partly because of strong union opposition but efforts to make the business more profitable were already under way.
As the British government prepares for the share sale, the Communication Workers Union, which represents some Royal Mail staff, said it was sending out ballot papers for a vote on strike action.
‘‘Royal Mail is profitable and can continue to be successful in the public sector,’’ Billy Hayes, the union’s general secretary, said in a statement. ‘‘The sale is driven by political dogma, not economic necessity.’’ The results on the vote are due on Oct. 16 and the earliest a strike could take place is Oct. 23, he said.
Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, said on Friday that the initial share sale would make the company able to better ‘‘compete in what is a fast changing and intensely competitive market.’’
Royal Mail’s roots date back to the court of Henry VIII in the 16th century. The company has been expanding its packaging services and was able to benefit from an increase in demand as more people buy goods online and get them delivered at home.
