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British Government to Begin Partial Sale of R.B.S. Stake

LONDON — The British government said on Monday that it would sell a 5.2 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, its first sale since the bank received a huge bailout seven years ago.

In a news release, U.K. Financial Investments, which oversees the government investment in R.B.S. and Lloyds Banking Group, said it planned to sell 600 million shares in a private placement to institutional investors, representing a 5.2 percent stake in R.B.S.

The government owns a stake of about 78.3 percent in R.B.S. after the lender received a bailout of 45 billion pounds, or about $70 billion, during the financial crisis in 2008.

It will hold a stake of about 73.2 percent after the sale.

The government’s exit from its ownership of both Lloyds and R.B.S. has been a key goal for George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer.

In June, Mr. Osborne said the government would begin to reduce its stake in R.B.S., even if it had to record a loss on some holdings.

“The government set out its objectives for its share holdings in the banks in the chancellor’s annual Mansion House speech in June 2013 — getting the best value for the taxpayer, maximizing support for the economy and restoring them to private ownership — and as set out in that address, the government will only conclude a sale if these objectives are met,” the British Treasury said in a news release on Monday.

Lloyds Banking Group returned to an annual profit last year and in May paid its first dividend since the government bailout. The government, which owned as much as 40 percent of Lloyds after the bailout, now holds just under 14 percent.

Royal Bank of Scotland has had a rockier road to private ownership. In February, the bank reported its seventh consecutive annual loss.

After the loss, R.B.S., based in Edinburgh, announced plans to dismantle its global investment bank and to shrink the number of countries where it operates as it shifts to being a British-focused retail and corporate bank.

The lender’s second-quarter results showed positive signs as profit rose 27 percent, exceeding analysts’ expectations.

The bank also recorded restructuring charges of £1.05 billion related to its overhaul in the quarter and said it was not likely to begin to return capital to investors through share buybacks and dividends before the first quarter of 2017.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS are acting as the lead underwriters for the R.B.S. offering.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 5 of the New York edition with the headline: R.B.S. Share Sale. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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