‘Milestone in returning NatWest to full private ownership’ as government sells £1.26bn worth of shares
The government has sold £1.26bn worth of its shares in NatWest as it continues to sell-off its stake in the bank it bailed out after the 2008 financial crisis.
The shares, sold at 268.4p each, represent 4.95 per cent of NatWest’s share capital and takes it stake below 40 per cent.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith said: “Today’s sale is another major milestone in returning NatWest to full private ownership as promised. The government has now sold well over half of its shareholding.”
Of the 469m shares bought by NatWest in an off-market transaction, the bank intends to cancel 336m of the shares and hold the remaining 133m shares in treasury.
Holding shares as treasury shares gives the bank “the ability to cancel or re-issue such ordinary shares at a later date, quickly and cost effectively”, it said.
Chief executive Alison Rose said: “This transaction reduces government ownership below 40 per cent and demonstrates positive progress on the bank’s strategic priorities and the path to privatisation.”
Shares in NatWest rose 0.9 per cent.
The sale comes shortly after the Treasury pushed back its deadline to sell a chunk of its remaining shares in NatWest by two years.
Its stake is a remnant from its £46bn bailout of what was then the Royal Bank of Scotland in the financial crisis. Since 2015, it has been trying to reduce its stake by slowly selling its shares into the market.
Last year NatWest became majority-privately owned again after NatWest bought back a bunch of shares in both 2021 and 2022.
The government hopes to dispose of its stake entirely by 2026. The government has recouped around £5.0bn including today’s sale, but taxpayers have faced a significant loss on the bailout with NatWest’s share price nearly halving since the bailout.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s Sophie Lund-Yates said the sale, by removing government stabilisers, was “symbolic” of the bank “entering a new chapter”.