The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to sell up to $2.2bn worth of shares in its US subsidiary Citizens Financial Group, bringing down its stake in the business to below 25%.
Under the move, the British banking giant would offload 75 million shares in Citizens through a public offer, and has also offered an option to sell up to another 11.25 million shares to cover overallotments.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Should all the shares be disposed, it would represent 16% of Citizens and dilute RBS’ stake in Citizens to 24.7%.
Citizens Financial is planning to repurchase $250m of the shares being sold.
RBS bought Citizens in 1988 and expanded it further with the help of 25 acquisitions. The move is part of RBS’s strategy to reduce exposure to foreign markets and instead concentrate on retail and business banking in the UK.
RBS CEO RossMcEwan said: "The sale of Citizens is an integral part of our capital plan. It will help us to create a simpler, stronger and more efficient U.K.-focused bank that can better serve the needs of its customers."
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
