UK raises £500m from sale of Lloyds shares

Stake owned by taxpayers falls below 22 per cent as government recovers £9bn to date

The British government  has sold another chunk of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its holding in the bailed-out lender below 22 per cent. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
The British government has sold another chunk of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its holding in the bailed-out lender below 22 per cent. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The United Kingdom has raised a further £500 million from the sale of shares in Lloyds Banking Group, finance minister George Osborne said on Thursday.

The size of the stake owned by British taxpayers in Lloyds has fallen below 22 per cent, according to a regulatory filing. The UK took a 40 per cent stake in Lloyds when it was rescued in 2009.

“We have raised a further £500 million through Lloyds share sales,” Mr Osborne said on Twitter. “£9 billion now recovered and being used to pay down our national debt.”

Reuters