Former owner completes exit of Secure Trust Bank

Arbuthnot Banking Group has completed its exit from Secure Trust Bank, more than a decade after the business went public.

Solihull-based Secure Trust Bank part of the group since the early 1980s and Arbuthnot was still the majority owner after it floated on the Alternative Investment Market in 2011.

Five years later, Arbuthnot raised £145m as it sold more than 30% of the business to institutional investors as a precursor to Secure Trust moving up to the main market.

Since then Arbuthnot has been reducing its holdings.

The final share sale, revealed this morning, saw it raise £4.8m by disposing of its remaining 2.14% stake in the business. It sold at about 1200p per share, which is double the value of its early pandemic low but a long way below its 2015 levels when it peaked above 3,300p.

It is the fifth tranche of shares sold in 2021 which have raised more than £21m.

Arbuthnot had previously sold shares worth £15m in 2019.