FILE PHOTO: A man walks past ATM machines at branch of the NatWest bank in Manchester, Britain September 21, 2017. REUTERS/Phil Noble
July 22, 2021
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s government on Thursday launched a plan to sell down shares in Natwest over a 12 month window.
The finance ministry said it had instructed Morgan Stanley to sell Natwest shares on its behalf in a plan starting from August 12 and running until August 11, 2022. It said it planned to sell up to 15% of the total volume of Natwest shares that have been traded over the duration of the plan at or above a price per share that the government determines “delivers value for money for the taxpayer”.
The British state currently owns around 54.7% of Natwest after bailing out the lender, then known as Royal Bank of Scotland, during the financial crisis in 2008.
Details of the share sale come after the government sold 1.1 billion pounds ($1.51 billion) worth of Natwest shares through a one-off stock offering in May.
($1 = 0.7285 pounds)
(This story was corrected to clarify size of share sale, govt plans to sell up to 15% of the traded volume of shares)
(Reporting by Rachel Armstrong, editing by Karin Strohecker)
Source: One America News Network
