Citizens Financial Group Inc. said its initial public offering was priced at $21.50 per share, valuing the U.S. unit of Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland at about $12 billion.
The IPO, which was priced below the expected range, raised about $3 billion, making it the second biggest in the United States this year after Alibaba raised $21.8 billion last week. Citizens IPO is also the biggest bank offering since the financial crisis.
Citizens initially said it expected its IPO to be priced between $23 and $25 per share. RBS is selling all 140 million shares in the offering and could sell a further 21 million in an over-allotment option granted to the underwriters of the offering.
RBS, which is 80 percent-owned by the British government, is hiving off the 186-year-old Rhode Island-based bank as it is under pressure from regulators and lawmakers to bolster its capital and focus on lending to UK households and businesses.
"Selling Citizens will significantly improve our capital position and help us to create a strong and secure bank," RBS Chief Executive Ross McEwan said in a statement.
The British bank’s stake in Citizens would drop to 75 percent from 100 percent after the IPO. RBS has already said it intends to fully exit Citizens by 2016.
Analysts have said that once RBS sells at least half of Citizens, probably in the first half of 2015, its core capital adequacy ratio should be boosted by 2-3 percentage points, although the initial IPO is unlikely to have much impact.
Citizens provides retail and commercial banking services to about 5 million customers in the United States and ranks as the country’s 13th biggest retail bank holding with about $130 billion in assets.
The 186-year-old bank, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, was bought by RBS in 1988 and expanded with 25 acquisitions, including the 2004 purchase of Charter One.
It had 18,000 staff and 1,200 branches in 11 states across the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions at the end of June. It had a net profit of $479 million in the six months to the end of June on revenue of $2.6 billion.
Shares of Citizens are expected to start trading on Wednesday under the symbol "CFG" on the New York Stock Exchange.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co and J.P. Morgan are the lead advisors on the IPO.
Shares of Citizens Financial Group Inc, the U.S. unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, rose as much as 3.5 percent in their market debut, valuing the lender at about $12.5 billion in the biggest U.S. bank IPO since the financial crisis.
The offering, which raised $3.01 billion for RBS, is also the second biggest in the United States this year after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s $25 billion IPO last week.
Citizens’ shares were up 2.6 percent at $22.04 after about 30 minutes of trading, underscoring tepid appetite for offerings by financial firms in an otherwise hot U.S. IPO market. Alibaba’s stock popped 38 percent in its first day.
RBS, which is 80 percent owned by the British government, had originally planned to sell the shares at between $23 and $25, but ended up selling them for $21.50 each.
The bank was forced to cut the price of its initial public offering due to investor uncertainty over its ability to meet profitability targets, analysts said.
RBS, whose stake in the 186-year-old Rhode Island-based bank will drop to 75 percent after the IPO, has said it intends to sell all of its stake in Citizens by 2016.
"The planned divestment will significantly improve RBS’s capital foundation and is a further important step in making RBS a strong and secure bank," Chief Executive Ross McEwan said this month.
RBS, whose shares were up 0.5 percent at 359.7 pence in London, was saved from collapse in 2008 by a 45 billion pound ($68 billion) bailout. Since then, it has been shedding assets to focus on lending to British households and small businesses.
Analysts have said the RBS’s core capital adequacy ratio should be boosted by 2-3 percentage points once it sells at least half of Citizens, probably in the first half of 2015.
The sale price valued Citizens at 0.9 times its net tangible book value of $13.1 billion at the end of June.
That represents a premium to RBS shares, which are trading at about 0.7 times book value, but below U.S. banks of a similar size, such as Fifth Third and BB&T Corp, that on average trade at near 1.2 times book value, according to Reuters data.
The banking industry is reeling in a low-interest rate environment and increased regulations. The KBW Bank Index has trailed the S&P 500 this year.
Citizens, which was bought by RBS in 1988, provides retail and commercial banking services to about 5 million customers and ranks as the 13th biggest retail bank in the United States, with about $130 billion in assets.
It had 1,200 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions at the end of June and made a net profit of $479 million in the six months to the end of June, on revenue of $2.6 billion.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co and J.P. Morgan are the lead advisers on the deal.
