The UK government is understood to be in talks with brokers including AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown to help it market shares in NatWest to retail investors as it explores possible options for selling down its stake in the bank.
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said in his autumn statement last November that the government would “explore options” for selling down its remaining stake in the British banking group – now at just below 33% – and would plan to invite the public to buy shares.
The government has opened early talks with a number of brokers about helping to sell the shares to retail investors and has asked firms to sign non-disclosure agreements, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the development. The Treasury declined to comment.
In November, the chancellor said he would look at options for a retail share offer within 12 months, although it would be “subject to supportive market conditions and achieving value for money”.
In his speech, Hunt referred to the mass privatisations of the 1980s – when shares in British Gas were advertised to members of the public with the slogan “If you see Sid … tell him”. He told MPs: “It’s time to get Sid investing again.”
Speculation is growing that Hunt will use next week’s budget to announce further details of a share sale to the public, which UK Government Investments said earlier this month could come as early as June.
In a retail offering, shares would be offered to members of the public as opposed to solely to institutional investors. The chancellor told parliament last November that the NatWest retail share offer was part of further capital market reforms aimed at keeping the UK as an attractive centre to start and list a company.
The government’s holding in NatWest is now worth approximately £6.8bn, but any retail share sale is expected to be for only part of the stake.
The government has part-owned NatWest since the 2008 financial crisis when it took an 84% stake in the then Royal Bank of Scotland group to bail out the bank but it has since steadily sold down its stake. Shares in NatWest rose 1% in early trading on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the bank reported its biggest annual profit since the financial crisis, helped by rising interest rates, with its pre-tax profits rising by 20% to £6.2bn in the year to December 2023.
The bank also confirmed Paul Thwaite would become NatWest chief executive after his predecessor Alison Rose was forced to step down last July after a de-banking row with the politician Nigel Farage.
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Tim Jacobs, the head of primary markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “NatWest has generated strong interest from clients and we’d expect this to grow rapidly over the next couple of months.
“Given that people can already buy NatWest in the secondary market, the discount offered in the share sale is going to be a major factor in how well the offer gets away.”
AJ Bell was contacted but declined to comment.
