Lloyds share price: Lender wraps up sale of TSB stake

Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LON:LLOY) has completed the sale of its about 40-percent stake in TSB Banking Group Plc (LON:TSB) to Spain’s Sabadell. The news came as the Spanish lender announced that its £1.7 billion acquisition of TSB was now unconditional.

Lloyds’ share price has lost ground in today’s session having shed 0.78 percent to 85.20p as of 08:34 BST. The decline is largely in line with a drop in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index which currently stands 0.88 percent lower at 6,562.28 points. TSB’s share price, however, is outperforming the mid-cap FTSE 250 index and currently stands 0.53 percent higher at 340.40p.
Lloyds said in a statement this morning that it had noted Sabadell’s announcement that its offer for TSB was now unconditional, having received the relevant regulatory clearances.
“This effectively completes the sale of the Group’s remaining 40.01 percent stake in TSB to Sabadell for a consideration of approximately £680 million,” the part government-owned lender explained in the statement. Lloyds, which carved TSB out of the 632 branches it was forced to sell by the European Commission as a condition of its taxpayer-funded bailout, floated the challenger bank on the London Stock Exchange about a year ago. Earlier this year, however, Sabadell and TSB agreed a takeover with the transaction valuing the mid-cap lender at £1.7 billion.
“The sale of TSB represents the Group’s continued delivery of its commitment to the European Commission under the terms of the state aid decision,” Lloyds said in today’s statement, adding that it would now seek confirmation from the EU regulator of its compliance with its retail business disposal commitment.
Sabadell said today in a statement that the cancellation of TSB’s listing on the LSE was expected to take effect on or around July 28. The Spanish lender noted that shareholders in the challenger bank who have not yet accepted the offer were “urged to do so as soon as possible”.
As of 08:59 BST, Tuesday, 30 June, Lloyds Banking Group share price is 85.27p.