Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank are to go it alone after parent company NAB finally revealed its UK pull-out plan.
National Australia Bank said it intended to demerge 70% to 80% of Clydesdale to its shareholders and sell off the remaining stock to institutional investors via an initial public offering.
Despite the proposal, which could see the group exit Britain by the year-end, NAB remains open to offers for its British subsidiary business meantime.
Group CEO Thorburn said: “In relation to exiting our UK banking business, we have been examining a broad range of options including those provided by public markets.
“It is a priority to exit this business, and we are today announcing our intention to pursue a demerger and IPO of the UK banking business.”
A float would likely value Clydesdale at between £2 billion and £3bn.
The UK’s Prudential Regulatory Authority has demanded NAB provide a total of £1.7bn of capital support to the demerged company to insure against potential conduct legacy costs.
Just last month, Clydesdale was hit by a £20.7 million fine by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation the mishandling of PPI complaints.
However, acting Clydesdale Bank CEO Debbie Crosbie said the company had seen performance improve, and the demerger plan represented an “exciting new opportunity” for the business.
“We believe the foundations of a strong standalone future have been laid in the progress made restructuring and refocusing our business, and this is clear in our half-year results,” she said.
“Pre-tax cash earnings are up a third to £118m, charges to provide for bad and doubtful debts more than halved, and mortgage lending is up £2.4bn.
“There’s more work to be done as we move the business forward and build a better bank for our customers.
“Oversight and governance of historical PPI complaints have been completely overhauled, and comprehensive programmes are under way to put this right to ensure we are doing the right thing by our customers.
“The strong start we’ve made since the beginning of 2015 means we’re well placed to build on our organic growth plans.”