The UK's biggest ever rights issue has sold over 95 per cent of its shares.
The £12 billion shares sale from RBS has been a success, according to the bank.
Over 95 per cent of the new stock has been sold, with investors purchasing a total of almost six billion shares. This is the biggest such "rights issue" (a revenue-raising scheme which sees large firms issue new shares to be sold off to current shares at a discount) in UK corporate history.
"It's a good level of take-up for one of the biggest ever rights issues, done in not easy circumstances," commented Alan Beaney, head of investment at Principal Investment Management.
Heavy losses from the credit crunch have driven RBS to make the share sale. The £50 billion purchase of Dutch bank ABN Amro last year by an RBS-led consortium, which went through prior to the beginning of the financial crisis, has also left the firm financially stretched.
The rights issue has been criticised by some investors, because the creation of extra shares dilutes the value of the present stock. However, speculation over the bank's balance sheet problems has caused significant damage: the value of its shares has dropped by around 50 per cent over the past 12 months, including a 25 per cent drop when the rights issue was announced.
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