 Although BAC's parent companies were prepared to sell their shares for a reasonable price, the government proposal, in their view, undervalued the group.By August 1967, the success of the BAC 1–11 and defence sales to Saudi Arabia made the prospect of the parent companies selling their shares less likely.In December 1967, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, the Minister of Technology, while reiterating his desire to see a merged BAC and HSA, admitted it would not be possible.