UK Govt Sells 5% Stake in NatWest for £1.1bn

The UK government sold a £1.1bn ($1.5bn) stake in NatWest Group, which had received an injection of over $63bn during the 2008 financial crisis. The Treasury sold 580mn NatWest shares to undisclosed institutional investors at 190p per share via an accelerated book build. The sale price was at a 3.5% discount to Monday’s closing price. The sale reduced the government’s stake from 59.8% to 54.8%, marking the fourth share sale by the government since the bailout and the second in two months. NatWest shares slumped 5% on Monday and traded down another 4% on Tuesday morning at 189.45p per share, just under the book build price. The bookrunners of the share sale were Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Rothschild & Co, and the deal adviser was the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.