The British government has sold £1.13bn of its stake in NatWest Group Plc, the first reduction in nearly three years, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
The UK Treasury sold the roughly 590.7m shares back to the bank, reducing the Government's ownership to 6.9bn or 59.8 percent of NatWest's share capital, a company statement said on Friday.
“We believe this is a good use of capital for the bank and our shareholders,” NatWest chief executive Alison Rose said in a statement as quoted by Bloomberg.
Despite the sale, the UK is still is bank's largest shareholder following a massive £45.5bn bailout for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) approved after the financial crisis in 2008, Bloomberg added.
NatWest also received approval from investors to conduct share buybacks up to 5 percent of the government's stake each year. Bank shares climbed 1.5 percent in the morning in London and remained 56 percent higher in a post-COVID recovery.
"It represents an important step in the government’s plan to return institutions brought into public ownership as a result of the 2007-2008 financial crisis to private ownership," the statement said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak authorised the sale, which will be managed by UK Government Investments (UKGI).
