Government's stake in Lloyds to be offered to public

The government's stake in part-nationalised lender Lloyds Banking Group is to be offered to the public, the government said today.

In September 2013 the government began the process of returning Lloyds to full private ownership after selling 15.5% of its shares in the bank which were held by UK Financial Investments (UKFI) on behalf of the public. The first sale was focused on institutional shareholders, but the government said today it wanted to widen this out to include consumers. "While the first sale was aimed at institutional investors, the government would like to give the British public the opportunity to participate directly in future sales when the time is right," it said. "These preparations will all...