Lloyds raises £450m in St James’s Place stake sale

State-backed Lloyds Banking Group said it had raised £450m from the sale of 15 per cent of wealth manager St James’s Place to boost its capital.

By The Newsroom

Published 24th May 2013, 01:01 BST

Lloyds said the 77 million shares had been placed at 580p per share, a 9.4 per cent discount to its Wednesday closing price of 640p.

After its previous sale of shares in St James’s Place in March, Lloyds had agreed not to reduce its stake further for at least a year, but that lock-up was waived on Wednesday by bookrunner Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Lloyds, which still holds a 21 per cent stake in St James’s, said yesterday the lock-up could not be waived again for at least six months. Lloyds said under full Basel III capital rules the placing will increase its common equity Tier 1 capital by about £500m.

Lloyds Lloyds Banking Group