Clydesdale clears final legal hurdle ahead of demerger and IPO tomorrow
Australian courts have approved the sale of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, one day before the banking business is expected to begin conditional trading in London.
National Australia Bank (NAB), which still owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks (CYBG), said overnight that the CYBG demerger had been approved by Supreme Court of Victoria.
NAB shareholders voted in favour of the sale at a general meeting last week, and the bank's chief executive Andrew Thorburn said this morning he was "delighted the court had given the final approval for the demerger of CYBG to proceed".
"The court’s approval today is the final significant step in the separation of NAB and CYBG into two independent corporate groups," Thorburn said.
“The demerger allows each business to focus on improving performance in their home markets and on business priorities that will maximise value for their respective shareholders. Both companies can now look ahead to the future."
Conditional trading is expected to start tomorrow. Unconditional trading will kick off on February 8.
The bank set an indicative pricing range of 175p to 235p for the IPO, valuing the business between £1.5bn and £2bn.
CYBG first announced its intention to float on both the London and Australian stock exchanges in December. The demerger is set to involve selling 75 per cent of the bank's shares to NAB shareholders, and 25 per cent to institutional investors through the proposed IPO.
Investors will be closely watching the sale, which is set to be the first major IPO in the UK for 2016.