Lloyds reports over 95% take-ups for £13.5 billion rights issue

Monday, Britain's largest retail lender, Lloyds Banking Group announced it got over 95% take-ups for its record £13.5 billion rights issue, underlining a turbulent few months for the bank.

As Lloyds stated Monday, around 95.3% of new shares offered were taken up by investors.

The rights issue had been priced at £37 per share, with investors being offered 1.34 shares for every existing share held. That compares with Friday's close at £56.2.

Lloyd's cash call, that appeared to become the world's largest to date, is a key plank of its bumper capital raising attempt launched last month to enable the bailed-out bank to avoid a state-backed insurance scheme for bad debts.

A high take-up seems to be the strongest indication yet of shareholder support for its turnaround efforts.

That will leave just over £600 million of shares to be placed by its underwriters, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS and Citigroup are considerably better than Lloyds' last rights offer in June, which left 13.1% to be placed by its bankers.