The owners of lender Shawbrook Group are reportedly drawing up plans for a stock market floatation, valuing it at over £2 billion.

Sky News says BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital, which took Shawbrook private in 2017, are close to appointing Goldman Sachs to oversee work on an IPO.

BC Partners and Pollen Street own equal stakes in Shawbrook, with its management team also owning a minority.

Sky says: “Shawbrook’s shareholders are said to be keen to take the company public during the first half of this year.

“People close to the situation cautioned that no decision to proceed with a listing had been taken, and that it would be dependent upon market conditions.”

Shawbrook employs around 1,600 people,m and has 550,000 customers.

Sky says it’s among a crop of mid-tier lenders – such as OneSavings Bank, Aldermore Bank and Paragon Bank – which have collectively become a significant part of Britain’s banking landscape.

It continues: “The bid to take Shawbrook public this year will come a year after its owners were reported to have hired Bank of America and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale or listing. It explored a similar process in 2022 but abandoned it amid volatile market conditions.

“The company has also sought to position itself at the heart of potential consolidation among the sector’s leading players.

“ … [Recently] Shawbrook sounded out the Co-operative Bank about a £3.5 billion all-share merger in an attempt to pre-empt a wider auction of the former mutually owned lender.

“That, too, was rebuffed, with the Co-operative Bank completing its sale to the Coventry Building Society this week.”

Shawbrook, BC Partners and Pollen Street have all declined to comment.