Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank presses ahead with £1.6bn flotation

Updated

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank has pressed ahead with its £1.6 billion flotation after being hit by a last-minute delay.

The Glasgow-based lender - now known as CYBG -was forced to put the brakes on its initial public offering (IPO) for 24 hours on Tuesday following a "specific request" for more information from a credit ratings agency.

The high street bank is being spun out of the National Australia Bank (NAB), which saw its shares come under pressure on the Australian market after the float prices for Clydesdale Bank came in at the low end of estimates, at 180p.

The offer price values Clydesdale at £1.58 billion.

The majority of the demerged bank will be owned by NAB, but 25% of the stock is being sold to new investors. It will be listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange.

David Duffy, chief executive of Clydesdale, said the IPO was a "landmark day" which moved the bank towards becoming an independent banking group for the first time in almost a century.

He added: "CYBG is in great shape to begin this exciting new chapter."

The lender revealed on Tuesday that it had been forced to halt its flotation because of a request for financial information "relating to its assessment of Clydesdale Bank's short and/or long-term deposit rating".

The need for fresh information could trigger a deposit rating downgrade, the bank said, but it did not expect that move to have a "material impact".

Andrew Thorburn, chief executive of NAB, said the bank was "pleased with the response from institutional investors to the IPO, including from NAB shareholders, despite the recent significant market volatility".

He confirmed that NAB would now focus on its core markets in Australia and New Zealand.

Clydesdale has faced turbulent conditions in the past after NAB had to factor in £500 million of extra provisions in August last year to cover payment protection insurance (PPI) and other mis-selling scandals.

Of the extra money set aside in the summer of 2015, £420 million was put by to cover potential PPI mis-selling and up to £80 million for any further charges relating to interest rate hedging products sold to small businesses.

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