RBS cuts sale price for US unit Citizens's market debut

Royal Bank of Scotland lowered the price of shares in US unit Citizens Financial Group being launched on Wall Street Wednesday after lackluster demand from investors.
The initial public offering of Citizens, 140 million shares, was priced at $21.50 late Tuesday, raising about $3.0 billion. The British parent company originally sought an IPO price between $23 and $25.
RBS offered 25 percent of Citizen's common stock in the  largest US bank IPO since before the 2008 financial crisis.
At $21.50, the issue valued the Providence, Rhode Island-based bank at $12 billion.
Despite the lukewarm reception from investors, RBS still planned to offer about 21 million additional shares in case of strong demand.
Shares were expected to begin trading later Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "CFG".
Citizens's IPO is the second-largest in the United States in the year to date after Alibaba's $25.0 billion offering last Thursday, according to Dealogic.
In addition, the deal ranks the third-largest bank IPO from a US issuer on record, behind CIT Group in 2002 at $4.9 billion and Goldman Sachs in 1999 at $3.7 billion, Dealogic said.
Citizens, one of the nation's oldest banks, tracing its roots to 1828, is the 13th largest US bank by assets. It had $130.3 billion in assets as of June 30.
RBS plans to completely sell its US subsidiary by 2016 as part of vast restructuring program.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is 81 percent owned by the British state after it was rescued with £45.5 billion ($74.4 billion) of public money during the global financial crisis in the world's biggest bank bailout.