Yorkshire Bank owner completes £1bn placing

YORKSHIRE Bank owner National Australia Bank today confirmed that it has successfully raised £1bn through a share placing to strengthen its balance sheet.

The group, which owns Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks in the UK, said that the oversubscribed equity capital fundraising of 2bn Australian dollars (£1bn) had seen 93m shares placed with institutions at $21.50 per share.

The move will increase its ratio of equity capital to assets from 8.2% to 8.8% and will be followed by an offer of new shares to retail shareholders worth up to $750m (£370m).

Yorkshire Bank has been one of the most active lenders in the North West in the last six months, supporting a number of high profile transactions.