The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (John Glen)
The Government have sold just over £2.5 billion-worth of Government-owned RBS shares, as part of the Government’s policy to return the bank to private ownership: 925 million shares (representing approximately 7.7% of the bank) were sold at a price of 271p per share, reducing the Government’s shareholding to 62.4%. The sale commenced on Monday 4 June when markets closed and concluded this morning, Tuesday 5 June, before markets opened.
This sale follows the progress RBS has made in addressing major legacy issues and is a further step in the Government’s plan to return RBS in full to private ownership.
The Government received advice from UK Government Investments (UKGI) that selling shares through an accelerated book-build represented value for money for the taxpayer. The proceeds of this sale will go towards reducing our national debt.
It remains the Government’s objective to return the bank fully to private ownership, and further sales will be made when it represents value for money to do so and market conditions allow. This is in the best interests of the taxpayer and the wider UK economy.
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