The Treasury still owns a 54.7 per cent stake in Natwest following its £46bn bailout during the financial crisis
The Government has renewed efforts to sell down its £12billion stake in Natwest, taking its ownership of the bank below 50 per cent for the first time since 2008.
The Treasury, which still owns a 54.7 per cent stake in Natwest following its £46billion bailout during the financial crisis, said it wanted to accelerate the sell-off as it attempts to free up money to cope with the pandemic.
It will appoint Morgan Stanley to sell the shares, with the trading plan ending in August 2022.
The amount of shares sold will be capped at 15 per cent of the number of Natwest shares being traded over the 12-month period, so as not to flood the market
And the Treasury added that shares would ‘only be sold at a price that represents value for money for taxpayers’.
But the Government, which originally had an 84.4 per cent stake in Natwest, which is led by chief executive Alison Rose, has already lost billions of pounds on the bailout after selling chunks of shares in 2015, 2018 and earlier this year.