Clydesdale delays float after ratings downgrade threat

There was embarrassment among investment bankers in Canary Wharf today after Clydesdale Bank was forced to postpone its long awaited flotation because a ratings agency threatened a possible downgrade.

Clydesdale, or CYBG as it has been renamed, was due to start trading on the stock market this morning. An initial price of 180p a share had been set which was the bottom end of the 175p to 235p range set by bankers last month.

But at the last minute the float was put back by 24 hours to tomorrow as bankers rushed to include the potential debt downgrade in the prospectus.

Clydesdale and its owner National Australia Bank have been advised by an army of bankers from Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, RBC and Macquarie.

A rival banker said: “This is highly unusual. Something like a ratings change should have been on the bankers’ radar long ago.”