Lloyds raises £450m by selling down St James’s Place stake
The Bank of Scotland owner said it would book a gain of about £40m on the deal, which will help boost its capital buffers.
Lloyds sold 77 million shares in St James’s Place at 580p each, leaving it with a 21 per cent stake in the firm.
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Hide AdThe group sold a 20 per cent stake in the wealth manager in March and had agreed not to reduce its holding further for at least a year, but that lock-up was waived on Wednesday by bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
It said today that the lock-up could not be waived again for at least six months.
Lloyds announced yesterday that its core capital ratio should be above the industry benchmark of 9 per cent at the end of this year and higher than 10 per cent by the end of 2014.