Update: Lloyds raises £450m from fresh SJP stake sale

Lloyds Banking Group has raised £450m from a placing of a 15% stake in St James's Place (SJP), just months after it sold a 20% stake.

In a surprise move which will leave it with just 21% of the company's share capital, the semi state-owned bank sold a further 15% stake following a special agreement from book runner BofA Merrill Lynch. Lloyds said this morning it had placed the 77m shares at a price of £5.80 per share, raising £450m in the process. The bank said it would make a gain of £40m on the sale, which would increase its core Tier 1 capital by the same amount. The move comes hot on the heels of a placing of 20% of SJP's shares in March, a deal which netted the bank £400m. BofA Merrill Lynch has agreed to...