Returning Lloyds to the private sector
UK Financial Investments (UKFI) successfully completed the sale of the government’s holdings in Lloyds Banking Group in March 2017. The government took a stake in the bank during the financial crisis. UKFI’s role was to sell the government’s stake in the bank while achieving value for money for the taxpayer. It sold shares in Lloyds in two ways; through a series of Accelerated Book Builds (ABBs) which achieved over £7bn in proceeds and through two trading plans, which delivered over £9bn and £3bn respectively. The trading plans were designed to sell shares in the market over time, in an orderly and measured way. The decision to implement a trading plan was made following detailed analysis by UKFI and its advisors of a range of matters including the structure of the plan, Lloyds’ share price performance, a detailed assessment of fair value and wider market conditions. The trading plans were a new and innovative way of disposing of shares. Instead of selling them in large blocks, the shares were ‘drip fed’ into the market by Morgan Stanley, who managed the plan on behalf of UKFI. UKFI set the parameters of the plan to make sure that the government achieved value for money.