NatWest has bought back £1.2 billion of shares from the UK government, it announced today.
Alison Rose, chief executive, said: “Reducing government ownership below 50 per cent is an important milestone for NatWest and a further demonstration of the progress we are making.”
The company, formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), said it had agreed to make an off-market purchase of 550m shares, or 4.91% of its share capital, from HM Treasury at Friday’s closing price of 220.5p, in a statement to the stock market on Monday.
John Glen, the economic secretary to the Treasury under the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said: “This sale means that the government is no longer the majority owner of NatWest Group and is therefore an important landmark in our plan to return the bank to the private sector. We will continue to prioritise delivering value for money for the taxpayer as we take forward this plan.”
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