The UK government has completed the sale of £1.1 billion in shares of NatWest, lowering its stake to below 55% in the lender it bailed out over a decade ago.
UK Government Investments (UKGI), the state-owned company that controls the shares, said the they were priced at 190 pence.
This was 4% below Monday's closing price of 197 pence.
NatWest, which owns Ulster Bank here, has been majority state-owned following a £45 billion bailout in 2008 during the financial crisis.
The sale crystallises a further hefty loss of around £1.8 billion for taxpayers, with shares well below the 502 pence bailout level.
The move edges the bank closer to private ownership, reducing the government's holding from 60% previously.
The UK government's last sale of stock to outside investors was in 2018, although NatWest directly bought back £1.1 billion of shares last month to reduce the state's holding from 62%.
NatWest shares fell around 4% in early trading to around the latest sale price. They are also below the 2018 sale price of 271 pence a share.
The UK government said it continued to keep all options and timings under review for future sales.
NatWest's stock price has more than doubled since hitting a low of 90.5 pence in September, as optimism has built about prospects for Britain's economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, has long argued it is unrealistic to expect a profit on the bank's rescue, which was needed to stabilise Britain's financial system.
Two months ago, Britain's financial regulator said it had started a criminal action against NatWest over allegations it failed to detect suspicious activity by a customer depositing nearly £400m over five years, mostly in cash.
In February, NatWest announced a phased withdrawal of Ulster Bank from the Republic of Ireland over the coming.
Ulster Bank has 1.1 million customers here, along with 2,800 staff in 88 branches around the country.
