HBOS gets 8.29% of shareholders: 1.4bn share to sell

UK mortgage lender HBOS has only received 8.29% of shareholders for their £4bn rights issue, this now leaves underwriters with almost 1.4bn share to sell. HBOS shares fell as low as 254.5p last week.

Underwriters to the funding, Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort, are now faced with the tough task of selling a huge number of leftover shares at 275p or above over the next two days.

Many financial experts believe that this is a tall order and it is likely that both will be left with a huge stake. There was a ray of hope on Friday however; as shares rose to 282p, this would make it easier to off load some shares.

Just last month owners of Halifax had expected first half writedowns to reach £1bn, they also warned that the UK economy would continue to slow as house prices fell further than expected.

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