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LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - The British government has
completed the sale of 1.1 billion pounds ($1.55 billion) in
shares of NatWest, lowering its stake in the lender it
bailed out over a decade ago to below 55%.
UK Government Investments, the state-owned company that
controls the shares, said the shares were priced at 190 pence,
4% below Monday's closing price of 197 pence.
The sale of around 580 million shares reduces the
government's ownership from 60% previously.
NatWest has remained majority state-owned following a 45
billion-pound ($63.65 billion) bailout in 2008 during the
financial crisis.
The government's last sale of stock to outside investors was
in 2018, although NatWest directly bought back 1.1 billion pound
of shares last month to reduce the state's holding from 62%.
($1 = 0.7084 pounds)
(Reporting by Iain Withers; editing by Rachel Armstrong and
Jason Neely)
