Go ahead for Clydesdale Bank to float

Shareholders are overwhelmingly in favour of the flotation
Shareholders are overwhelmingly in favour of the flotation
JONATHAN BRADY/PA

Clydesdale Bank has cleared the final big legal hurdle for its planned stock market flotation and separation from National Australia Bank.

The demerger from its parent was approved by the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, yesterday, allowing conditional trading in the shares of CYBG, the new entity covering the operations of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, to begin today.

As part of the initial public offering, 25 per cent of the shares will go to institutional investors, with the remainder being kept by NAB shareholders. There has been speculation that the book for institutional orders is over-subscribed, but it remains to be seen at what price the bank floats.

There was a wide price range of between £1.5 billion and £2.1 billion set last month, but