U.K Government Sells NatWest Shares for $1.58 Billion

By Nina Kienle

The U.K government sold close to 4 million of its shares in NatWest Group for 1.24 billion pounds ($1.58 billion).

The disposal included 392.4 million shares in the London-based retail and commercial bank that were sold at 316.2 pence each, the price at the close of trading on Thursday, the U.K government said.

The U.K government now owns 22.50% of NatWest, its voting rights falling to around 22.50% from around 25.98%, it said.

The U.K.'s stake in the bank resulted from the government's 2008 bailout of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which bought NatWest in 2000 and rebranded the enlarged company as NatWest Group in 2020. The government spent GBP45.5 billion of taxpayer money on the bailout and at one point owned 84% of the bank.

U.K.'s Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt plans to start a retail sale to sell down part of its stake this summer at the earliest, he said in his Spring Budget. However, this is likely to be delayed following the announcement of the U.K. elections set for July 4.

Write to Nina Kienle at nina.kienle@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 31, 2024 02:50 ET (06:50 GMT)

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