RBS Citizens unit seeks valuation up to $14B in IPO

BRUCE VAN SAUN is the CEO of Citizens Financial Group Inc., which is seeking a valuation of as much as $14 billion as it enters the final stages of an initial public offering. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
BRUCE VAN SAUN is the CEO of Citizens Financial Group Inc., which is seeking a valuation of as much as $14 billion as it enters the final stages of an initial public offering. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

NEW YORK – Citizens Financial Group Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, is seeking a valuation of as much as $14 billion as it enters the final stages of an initial public offering.

RBS is offering 140 million shares, or about 25 percent of the company, for $23 to $25 apiece, according to a regulatory filing today. Underwriters have an option to purchase an additional 21 million shares, the company said.

RBS is spinning off its U.S. consumer lender amid pressure from the British government, which owns 80 percent of the bank, to boost profitability and recoup some of the 45.5 billion pounds ($73.4 billion) spent on a bailout five years ago. Providence-based Citizens posted revenue of $4.69 billion last year, a decline of 4.2 percent from 2012.

Citizens scaled back in the Chicago market and is adding staff, part of CEO Bruce Van Saun’s plan to expand beyond the U.S. Northeast and Midwest. Its Chicago branches were sold this year to U.S. Bancorp, the nation’s biggest regional bank.

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Citizens is seeking to increase return on equity, a measure of profitability, to more than 10 percent in the next two to three years from 5 percent last year, the bank said in a filing last month. The lender plans to hire more than 550 people in its consumer bank, according to a filing last month.

RBS will own 75 percent of Citizens after the IPO, or 71.2 percent if underwriters exercise their option in full, according to the filing. Shares of RBS have dropped 0.3 percent in London trading this year.

Alibaba IPO

As Citizens works to attract investors, Alibaba is making its own IPO. The Chinese e-commerce company said on Sept. 5 that it is seeking a valuation of as much as $163 billion.

Synchrony Financial, the consumer-lending arm spun off from General Electric Co., raised $2.88 billion in a July offering. Ally Financial Inc., the auto lender rescued by the U.S. government during the 2008 financial crisis, raised $2.38 billion in its April debut.

The RBS subsidiary was one of three U.S. units of foreign banks whose capital plan was rejected by the Federal Reserve in its annual stress test. U.S. regulators cited flaws in the unit’s internal processes.

Citizens, which traces its history to 1828 as High Street Bank, has $130.3 billion in assets and has been owned by RBS since 1988.

Citizens will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CFG. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are managing the offering.

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