Lloyds Banking Group is plotting to raise £1bn through a sale of its 60% stake in Britain’s biggest chain of financial advisers
Lloyds Banking Group is plotting to raise £1bn through a sale of its 60% stake in Britain’s biggest chain of financial advisers.
The bank’s majority holding in St James’s Place Wealth Management could be placed with investors in the market before the year-end.
Antonio Lorenzo, the bank’s strategy director, is leading the disposal plan, which comes as Lloyds faces renewed scrutiny from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over its capital position.
Lloyds is at loggerheads with the regulator over plans to start paying dividends to shareholders for the first time since the financial crisis.
Raising cash from a sale of the St James’s Place holding could ease the FSA’s concerns. The adviser’s shares have soared more than 30% over the summer and closed on Friday at 398Åp, which values the firm at £2bn.
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