This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30520575

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
More Lloyds shares to be sold by the government More Lloyds shares to be sold by the government
(35 minutes later)
The government has announced that it is to sell more of its shares in Lloyds Banking Group. More shares in Lloyds Banking Group are to be sold by the government, in a move which could raise up to £3bn.
At present, the government owns a 25% stake in the UK bank. At present, the UK bank is 25%-owned by the taxpayer, but after the latest sale, this stake could fall to 20%.
If the latest sale is fully taken up then the government will raise £3bn and be left with a 20% stake. A trading plan has been launched to allow the shares to be sold gradually "in an orderly and measured way", the government said.
Previous sales of Lloyds shares have raised £7.4bn and cut the taxpayer's stake in the bank from about 40%.
"I can confirm today that the government is taking the next step in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership," Chancellor George Osborne said."I can confirm today that the government is taking the next step in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership," Chancellor George Osborne said.
The government said shares would not be sold below the average price paid of 73.6p at the time of the bank bailouts.
The trading plan will be managed by investment bank Morgan Stanley.