Bank joins Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint bookrunners for IPO
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has appointed investment bank UBS to assist in the flotation of Direct Line Group, Sky News reports.
UBS will be a joint bookrunner for the initial public offering (IPO) alongside fellow investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Bookrunners are responsible for underwriting the issuance of new shares in an IPO and selling the shares to investors.
RBS plans to float part of Direct Line Group in an IPO in the second half of this year, and offload the remainder in a further offering in 2013.
Under the conditions of its 2008 bail-out by the UK government, RBS has to sell the majority of its Direct Line Group stake by the end of 2013 and the entire stake by the end of 2014.
Despite the flotation plans, rumours persist that private equity will step in to buy the insurance group.
Direct Line Group is the holding company for several of the UK’s household-name insurers, including Churchill and Direct Line. It also owns broker-only commercial underwriter NIG.
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