LONDON--The U.K. government Wednesday said it has sold a 7.8%
stake in Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LLOY.LN) at 75.5 pence (124.6
cents) a share, raising GBP4.2 billion ($6.9 billion).
U.K. Financial Investments Ltd., a part of the U.K. Treasury
that manages the stake, said the latest sale takes the government's
stake down to around 25% from 33%.
The government cut what had been a 39% stake in September by
selling a 6% stake in the bank for GBP3.21 billion, with the shares
priced then at 75 pence.
The latest share sale had been flagged by bankers as likely to
come by April, after Lloyds posted a surge in underlying profits
for 2013, and said it planned to resume dividends for the first
time since the financial crisis on its second-half earnings. An
offer to retail investors is likely to come around September,
people familiar with the matter have said.
Lloyds Banking Group Chief Executive António Horta-Osório said
he was pleased taxpayers will get more of their money back through
the sale.
"I believe this reflects the hard work undertaken over the last
three years to make Lloyds a safe and profitable bank that is
focused on helping Britain prosper," he said.
A Treasury spokesman said Chancellor George Osborne decided to
sell the shares after UKFI said it "would be appropriate."
"Building a stronger banking system is a core part of the
government's long term economic plan to deliver greater economic
security," the Treasury spokesman said.
Lloyds received GBP19.9 billion in state aid between 2008 and
2009 to withstand the financial crisis. Since then, it has sharply
cut its assets, pulled out of around 20 countries and restructured
its business to focus on retail banking and business lending within
the U.K.
The September share placing was a hit with investors. Bankers
working on that deal said the order book was covered in an hour and
that 10 orders came in for more than $250 million in shares.
Shortly after the new deal's announcement Tuesday, people working
on it said the order book was filling up and that some large global
investors had already registered their interest in recent months
about participating in this stage of the government selldown.
Lloyds shares closed Tuesday at 79 pence, valuing the company at
GBP56.46 billion.
-Razak Musah Baba, Margot Patrick and Max Colchester contributed
to this article.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RoryGallivan
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires