London - The British government could sell off all of its 18.4 billion pound stake in the Lloyds banking group in 2014, the Daily Telegraph reported, citing unnamed sources.
The newspaper reported that the entire government holding could be sold off in the next 12 months in a combination of retail and institutional offerings.
“Post-results is when a further institutional offering would make most sense. After that, the thinking is an autumn sale, combining an institutional and a retail segment, is a realistic prospect,” a source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
The UK government has already sold off 6 percent of its stake in the partly nationalised bank, raising over 3.2 billion pounds ($5.28 billion) in September this year.
The government currently holds around 33 percent of the bank, five years after Lloyds and rival Royal Bank of Scotland were bailed out by the government at the height of the credit crunch.
Shares in Lloyds closed at 78.84 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Friday, valuing the group at 56.5 billion pounds. - Reuters