LONDON, UK: NatWest Group plc and the Irish government have announced their intention to sell part of their shareholdings in Permanent TSB Group Holdings PLC (PTSB), a leading provider of retail and SME banking in the Irish market.
The sale will be done through a placing to institutional investors, with the price to be determined by an accelerated book building process. The book will open immediately after the announcement.
The placing is expected to comprise about 33 million of PTSB’s ordinary shares, representing about 6% of the issued ordinary capital of PTSB. The Minister for Finance of Ireland, Michael McGrath TD, and NatWest will both dispose of 3% of issued ordinary capital each.
The sale will reduce the Irish government’s stake in PTSB from 62.4% to 59.4%, and NatWest’s stake from 16.7% to 13.6%.
The selling shareholders have also agreed not to sell further shares in PTSB for a period of 90 days after the completion of the placing, subject to some exceptions.
The details of the placing price and the exact number of placing shares will be announced later.