After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Iranian Oil Participants Ltd (IOP), a holding company, was founded in October 1954, in London to bring Iranian oil back to the international market.[29][30] British Petroleum was a founding member of this company with 40% stake.[3][29] IOP operated and managed oil facilities in Iran on behalf of NIOC.[29][30] Similar to the Saudi-Aramco "50/50" agreement of 1950,[31] the consortium agreed to share profits on a 50–50 basis with Iran, "but not to open its books to Iranian auditors or to allow Iranians onto its board of directors."[32]