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The UK government plans to sell its remaining 0.9% stake in Edinburgh-based retail bank NatWest Group PLC, Sky News reported on Thursday. This final disposal is part of a trading plan that has been in place since July 2021. Between May 1 and May 14, the Treasury sold 87.2 million shares in NatWest, cutting its holding to 0.90% from 1.98% previously. Following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, the Treasury held 84% of NatWest’s share capital, after a taxpayer bailout of what was then the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. As recently as 2018, the Treasury owned 62% of NatWest. The Sky News report estimated the Treasury’s total proceeds from NatWest at £35.3 billion, representing a loss of just over £10 billion against the £45.5 billion paid into the bank since 2008. A public statement is expected either later on Friday or on Monday morning, Sky News said, though timings are subject to change. NatWest is pursuing more aggressive expansion into the domestic market in response to the Treasury’s disposal. The bank suffered a blow earlier in May, when the Financial Times reported that Spanish lender Banco Santander SA rejected NatWest’s £11 billion bid for its UK retail bank. Had it gone through, the deal would have been the biggest in UK banking since the financial crisis. NatWest shares were up 0.2% at 524.00 pence each on Friday afternoon in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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