The government has announced plans to begin a retail sale of Lloyds Banking Group shares next spring worth £2bn as it aims to fully exit its holdings.
At least £2bn of shares will be sold to retail investors and members of the public will be offered a discount of 5% of the market price, the Treasury has announced.
An additional incentive will see a bonus share offered for every ten shares held by retail investors for over a year.
The value of the bonus share incentive will be capped at £200 per investor, and the Treasury said members of the public applying for investments of less than £1,000 will be prioritised.
Potential investors can pre-register for the sale at www.gov.uk/lloydsshares, which will allow them to receive regular updates.
The government’s stake in Lloyds has already come down from 43% at the time of the 2008 bailout to 13% remaining currently.
Helal Miah, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: “The deal looks attractive to those investors looking to take a medium to long-term interest in Lloyds. It is expected that the shares will be offered at a 5% discount to the market price of the shares. In addition, there is likely to be a bonus share for every ten held for more than one year. On top of that, Lloyds’ dividend yield should start to become an added attraction for investors over time.”
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
