Natwest buys back £1bn in shares from Treasury as government stake drops to 11%

NatWest has purchased £1 billion of its own shares from the UK Treasury, lowering the government’s stake in the FTSE 100 lender to just over 11%.

This buyback, the second of its kind in 2024, saw NatWest acquire 263 million shares at a price of 380.8p each, a step CEO Paul Thwaite describes as an “important milestone on the path to full privatisation.”

The government’s stake in NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, was as high as 84% after the 2008 financial crisis bailout. Over recent years, the state has gradually reduced its ownership through share sales to institutional investors and buybacks. In 2024 alone, NatWest has repurchased £2.2 billion of shares from the Treasury, cutting the government’s holding by over two-thirds since December.

The Labour government cancelled plans for a public share sale of NatWest in June, which was expected to offload part of the government’s 20% stake but was scrapped due to concerns it could cost taxpayers up to £450 million. The “Tell Sid”-style public offering was initially proposed by the previous Conservative government.

The Treasury’s latest sale continues the trend of privatising the bank, which has been a key objective since the taxpayer-funded bailout over a decade ago.

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Natwest buys back £1bn in shares from Treasury as government stake drops to 11%