By Elena Vardon
The U.K government trimmed its stake in NatWest Group to under 5% as it nears the completion of its plan to return the bank to private ownership.
The Treasury disposed of 74.3 million ordinary shares in the London-based retail and commercial lender, reducing its shareholding to 4.82%, regulatory filings showed Thursday. The government cut its stake to 5.93% two weeks ago as it stopped being the group's largest shareholder for the first time in a decade and a half.
It now holds 1.55 billion voting rights in the lender, equal to 388.6 million shares, valued at 1.71 billion pounds ($2.22 billion) based on Wednesday's closing price of 440.8 pence a share.
The latest reduction is part of the government's plan to steadily exit its position in the bank, which is set to conclude in the coming months.
The government's stake in the bank resulted from its 2008 bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland, which bought NatWest in 2000 and rebranded the enlarged company as NatWest Group in 2020. The U.K. spent 45.5 billion pounds on the bailout and, at one point, owned 84% of the bank.
Shares in NatWest have gained 76% in the last 12 months.
Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 13, 2025 07:19 ET (11:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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