In a significant move, the British government has divested £1.24 billion worth of shares in NatWest Group, reducing its stake from 26% to 22.5%. NatWest repurchased 392.4 million shares at 316.2p per share as part of this transaction.
Since March 2024, the government has ceased being a shareholder in NatWest stock directly. However, it plans to continue selling shares in the market until August 2025, according to Reuters.
This strategic sale marks another step in the government’s ongoing effort to unwind its position in NatWest, a process accelerated post the 2008 financial crisis when the bank was bailed out. The government’s gradual exit reflects increasing confidence in NatWest’s stability and performance.
Earlier this week, NatWest faced significant backlash due to a major outage of their mobile app, which coincided with the UK bank holiday weekend, affecting thousands of customers.
