RBS sells £500m Direct Line stake
The bank – which was forced by the European Commission to sell its insurance business after accepting a bailout from the UK government during the financial crisis – has been left with a 48.5 per cent stake in Direct Line after announcing the sale of the shares on Tuesday night.
RBS sold 252.3 million shares at 201p each. equivalent to a 15.3 per cent stake in the insurer. Its gross proceeds from the sale were £507m.
Bruce Van Saun, group finance director at RBS, said: “We are pleased with the performance of Direct Line Group since the initial public offering (IPO) in October.”