(Adds UK government confirmation, details)
LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - The British government kicked off
the sale of a further stake in taxpayer-backed NatWest Group
, announcing on Monday it plans to sell a 5% stake in the
lender.
The Treasury said it plans to sell around 580 million
shares, reducing the government's stake in the lender to 55%.
NatWest has remained majority state-owned following a 45
billion-pound ($63.65 billion) bailout in the 2007-09 financial
crisis. The government's last sale of stock was in 2018.
UK Government Investments, which manages the NatWest stake,
said final pricing was still to be determined through an
accelerated bookbuilding process.
Sky News reported earlier on Monday that the share sale was
imminent, sending shares in the bank down 1.5% to close at 191.1
pence, after earlier being up around 2% on the day.
Despite the dip, NatWest's stock price has more than doubled
since hitting a low of 90.5 pence in September, as optimism has
built about Britain's economic recovery from the pandemic.
NatWest declined to comment.
($1 = 0.7070 pound)
(Reporting by Iain Withers in London
Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Matthew Lewis)