NAB set to lay out plans for sale of Yorkshire Bank

NATIONAL AUSTRALIA Bank will tomorrow set out plans for the sale of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks as it prepares to exit the UK market.
David DuffyDavid Duffy
David Duffy

NAB wants to focus on core markets and is expected to provide a detailed update on the proposed demerger and initial public offering of its UK operations.

Under the plans, it will sell 20-30 per cent to institutional shareholders and 70-80 per cent to existing NAB shareholders.

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The shares will be listed on both the London and Australian stock exchanges.

The forthcoming transaction is likely to be completed in the early part of 2016.

NAB has beefed up the board of Yorkshire and Clydesdale in preparation for independence. It has set aside £1.7bn in provisions to draw a line under mis-selling scandals that have cast a cloud over recent years.

NAB has also invested in technology, including a new banking app for customers.

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New chief executive David Duffy has been meeting investors and analysts in Australia to promote Yorkshire and Clydesdale as Britain’s biggest standalone challenger bank. With its £28bn loan book, it is larger than Virgin Money and TSB and the sixth largest UK lender.

NAB, like its industry peers down under, is looking to raise funds to boost its capital ratio under new, stricter rules imposed by regulators.

It is expected to confirm the sale today of 80 per cent of its life insurance arm to Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance.

NAB put its shares on a trading halt, saying it was set to announce a “material transaction”.