According to news reports, the last of the state’s original £45.5 billion holding will be returned to private ownership as early as May 2025, assuming UK Government Investments (UKGI) continues its present rate of share disposals.
According to market sources on Wednesday, the remaining shares may be disposed off even sooner if chancellor Rachel Reeves decides to use NatWest’s excess cash to initiate a directed repurchase or a putting of stock with institutional investors.
The Treasury has previously predicted that, assuming favorable market conditions and cost-effective disposals, the sell-off will be finished by 2025–2026.
According to a Whitehall source, it is doubtful that the schedule would be changed in the documents that go with the budget next week.
However, given the current trading plan, which returns around one percentage point of the bank’s stock to private ownership every two weeks, they recognized that it was now feasible that the ultimate selling of shares may occur within six months.
The Treasury held a 38% shareholding in NatWest at the beginning of this year, but earlier this month, stock market filings revealed that it had dropped to just under 16%.
