EU green lights TSB’s flotation
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the final go-ahead to Lloyds Banking Group’s plans to float TSB bank next month.
The EU authority confirmed that the bank’s restructuring plan was within the bloc’s rules yesterday, meaning that an initial public offering of shares in the separated TSB bank by the end of next month.
The Commission also offered a major extension on its deadline to jettison some of its retail banking operations. Initially, the EU had pushed for the process to be finished by late last year.
But Lloyds now has until the end of 2015 to fully dispose of TSB, due to the collapse of the Co-op’s offer for the hundreds of branches. It is thought that shares will be sold in two or three tranches.