Lloyds to pocket £520m from SJP sale

Lloyds Banking Group expects to raise about £520m from the sale of part of its stake in wealth manager St James's Place (SJP).

Lloyds, which announced on Monday it intends to sell just over a third of its total 57% stake in the business, has placed 101,703,070 shares at a price of 510p per share. That represents a substantial discount of 5% to yesterday's closing share price of 536.5p. The gross proceeds of the placing are approximately £520m. Settlement of the placing will take place on 15 March and, on completion, Lloyds will hold about 37% of SJP's issued share capital. Lloyds has agreed with BofA Merrill Lynch that, for a period of one year following completion of the share placing, it will not make...