General Election throws sale of Government’s NatWest shares into doubt
Shares sale: At its peak the taxpayer stake in Natwest stood at 84%
Plans to sell Government shares in NatWest have been thrown into doubt by the announcement of a General Election in July.
Officials had been working towards a retail offer some time next month – ahead of half-year results in July.
But now June will see an election campaign in full swing, meaning the plan seems likely to be put on ice. Officials last night remained tight-lipped ahead of a possible Treasury announcement.
Planning by UK Government Investments (UKGI), which manages the Government stake, has been under way for months.
Advisers on the project include Barclays and ad agency M&C Saatchi, brought on board to lead a marketing campaign ahead of a launch which may have been just a couple of weeks away.
But one source acknowledged the sale would not be going ahead this summer. Another told Sky News it was ‘now in the deep freeze’.
It will then be for the next Government, which polls overwhelmingly suggest will be led by Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, to decide whether to revive the sale.
That raises the prospect of Labour overseeing a process that echoes the privatisations of the 1980s, epitomised by the ‘Tell Sid’ ad campaign, when British Gas and British Telecom were sold off.
A Labour spokesman was yet to reply to a request for comment last night. Gary Greenwood, banking analyst at Shore Capital, said the election could ‘potentially’ scupper the share sale as it leaves ‘a very short time frame’ to complete it.
He added: ‘A new government, should that be Labour (as seems likely) may want to go down a different route.’
The Treasury has owned a major stake in the lender since bailing it out during the financial crisis in 2008.
At its peak, the taxpayer stake stood at 84 per cent.
It is now just under 27 per cent and the Government committed to exiting its shareholding by the 2025/26 financial year.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in March’s Budget that a public share sale would proceed this summer. NatWest shares are up 43 per cent this year.
