The government has sold a 6% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, cutting its total shareholding from 38.7% to 32.7%.
The sale has generated a £61m cash profit for the government after it sold the shares for a total of £3.2bn for 4.28 billion shares, with each share priced at 75p.
The sale has been widely received as a success for the government.
The government bailed out Lloyds for on average 73.6p a share in 2008. George Osborne has said in the past that the government would break even if it sold its stake for 61p a share.
The shares were bought by institutional investors, although it is thought that the next share sale will include an option for retail investors.
Osborne said in a statement: “Five years ago, the previous government used taxpayers’ money to bail out the banks and I’ve been absolutely determined to get that money back for taxpayers so we can pay down debts.”
He added that this “is another step in the long journey to repair what went so badly wrong in the British economy.”
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