National Australia Bank has announced the pricing range for the planned stock market flotation of Clydesdale Bank, which is expected to value the Glasgow-based company at up to around £2 billion.
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Speculation that NAB would spin off Clydesdale has been swirling for some time, and the Australian bank confirmed it was considering the move back in 2014.
Chief executive David Duffy hopes to increase mortgage and retail lending by 50pc and small business lending by 25pc in the next five years, and to expand the bank’s operations well beyond its core markets in Scotland and the north of England.
NAB has looked at selling or floating Clydesdale (and Yorkshire) for decades but hit a huge stumbling block when the PPI mis-selling scandal broke five years ago.
CYBG shares will be listed on the London Stock Exchange’s main market and the first day of conditional trading is set for February 2.
“Banks handling the float are telling us the shares will be sold at around half the expected price”, said an investor who had been briefed on NAB’s plans. Shares in Clydesdale will trade under the CYBG symbol.
A demerger of 75 per cent of CYBG to NAB shareholders is being pursued alongside a divestment of the remaining 25 per cent by IPO to institutional investors.
Dealings in the shares, which will be offered in a price range from 175p to 235p, are due to start on February 2.
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“NAB may elect not to proceed with the IPO or to only proceed with a partial IPO, in which case NAB will retain a shareholding in CYBG”, NAB said.
