NWG NatWest Group plc

By Adriano Marchese

The U.K. government said Wednesday that it intends to sell its entire majority stake in banking and insurance company NatWest Group PLC.

The aim of the government is to sell its remaining 61.93% shareholding in the FTSE 100-listed lender, subject to market conditions and achieving value for money for U.K. taxpayers.

In the height of the economic crisis of 2008, the government injected capital into NatWest--then called the Royal Bank of Scotland Group--whose ownership eventually peaked at 84.4%.

Since then, through the process of share sales and diluting share placings, government ownership fell to today's level of 61.93%.

The government expects the sale to be completed between 2025 and 2026.

At 1449 GMT, shares were up 3.8 pence, or 2.1%, at 189.45 pence.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2021 10:23 ET (15:23 GMT)

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