The shares are sold at a small discount to Monday's closing price and at a level well below the 500p the government paid in 2008.
The taxpayers' stake in NatWest has been reduced after the chancellor authorised the first sale to private investors since 2018.
Sky News reported on Monday how UK Government Investments , the state-owned company that controls the shares bought following the bank's 2008 financial crisis bailout, wasThe sale raised £1.1bn and took the government's holding in NatWest - formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group - to just below 55%.The shares were priced at 190p each and were sold 4% below Monday's closing price of 197p.
It crystallises another loss for British taxpayers who paid an average of just 500p for the shares at the time of the bailout.While the last sale of stock to outside investors was in 2018, NatWest directly bought £1.1bn in shares last month to reduce the state's holding from 62%. The last budget showed that the effort to return the bank to private hands - delayed because of subdued prices for NatWest stock - was not expected to be completed until 2025/26.