The government of UK could sell its remaining 33% holding in Lloyds Banking Group next year, according to people close to the process. The sources also said the stake sale could complete the lender's privatization process, wrote The Telegraph.
The said bank stake is currently worth £18.4 billion. According to insiders, this holding could be sold in the next 12 months through combined institutional sales and nationwide public offering, the report detailed.
Three months ago, George Osborne greenlighted the first share sale of Lloyds since the £20-billion bailout in 2008. The bank raised £3.2 billion through the overnight sale of a 6% stake to institutional investors, the report recounted.
The privatization of Lloyds has a crucial stage involving the resumption of dividend payments. Since the taxpayer-funded rescue, Lloyds has not paid a dividend. However, the improvement of its performance is seen as a sign that the bank is close to resuming payouts to its shareholders, The Telegraph reported.
A Treasury spokesman said of the speculated sell-off: "The Government will sell further stakes in Lloyds when it is in taxpayers' interest to do so. There is no fixed timetable to do this."
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