NAB prepares to sell more Great Western shares

National Australia Bank has taken steps to sell the remaining shares in its United States subsidiary Great Western Bancorp, with the news that it has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with a potential public offering of its holding.

NAB said in a statement that no date had been set for the sale and the number of shares to be sold was yet to be determined. The shares are held by a NAB subsidiary National Americas Holdings.

NAB sold 31.8 per cent of Great Western in an initial public offering last year, raising US$331 million. In May it sold another stake.

NAB's plan is to sell 100 per cent of its Great Western holding over time.

NAB has the strongest capital position of the Big Four, with a core equity tier 1 ratio of ten per cent, after it raised A$5.5 billion in equity from investors in May.

Alongside Great Western, the other overseas bank NAB wants to sell is Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank in the UK.

It is planning to spin off up to 80 per cent of Clydesdale to NAB shareholders and float the rest in the UK by the end of this year.

Macquarie Securities, which has an "outperform" recommendation on NAB shares, told investors the sale of Great Western would boost the banks' core equity tier one capital ratio by about 30 basis points.