RBS May Need to Offer Direct Line at 25% Discount, Investors Say

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Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc may have to sell Direct Line Insurance Group Plc for about 25 percent less than the insurer’s estimated market value in its initial public offering, investors say.

Direct Line should be priced at about 2.5 billion-pounds ($4.7 billion), according to JO Hambro Capital Management Ltd. and Rathbone Brothers Plc. That compares with a 3.4 billion-pound valuation published in a report by Commerzbank AG, co-manager of the IPO, sent to potential investors and obtained by Bloomberg News.