Anne Boden has sold her remaining 2.7% shareholding in Starling Bank to a group of existing investors in a private deal that valued the digital lender at £1.7bn, according to Sky News. The price is well under half the £4bn valuation Starling targeted in a secondary share sale in 2025.
Boden founded Starling in 2014 after senior roles at Allied Irish Bank and Lloyds, and ran it as chief executive until May 2023. Her exit from the cap table is now complete. Earlier this year City AM reported that she had cut her holding from 4.3% to 2.7%. The latest sale clears the rest.
Starling confirmed the deal. A spokesperson said the founder had sold her remaining shares privately to "several existing shareholders" and that the bank had full knowledge of the transaction. The buyers were not named, and neither the share price nor the total consideration was disclosed.
The numbers
At the reported £1.7bn valuation, a 2.7% stake would be worth about £46m. That figure is implied and has not been confirmed by either party.
The price is a sharp discount on recent marks. Starling went looking for a £4bn valuation in a secondary sale last year. The gap shows how far apart a motivated seller's price and the headline valuation of a profitable UK challenger bank can be. Secondary deals between existing holders tend to price for illiquidity, and they run without the competitive tension of a primary round.
Starling remains profitable, though earnings have slipped. In its latest financial year the bank reported pre-tax profit of £217m, down 3% from £223m, on revenue of £887m, down 5.6%. Interest income fell £52.5m to £759.2m. Starling put the decline mainly down to Bank of England rate cuts, which averaged 91 basis points across the year. It also cited a £20m investment in Engine, its banking-software-as-a-service arm.
Cap-table history
Boden's relationship with the shareholder base has been difficult before. She stepped down as chief executive in 2023, and reports at the time linked her departure to a dispute with investors. The dispute followed Jupiter's decision in 2022 to sell its Starling stake below the prevailing valuation. Those reports said her concerns as a shareholder had come to weigh too heavily on her role as chief executive.
Because the shares went to existing holders, the deal concentrates ownership further among Starling's current investors rather than bringing in new capital. No new shares were issued, so the transaction does not dilute other shareholders.
What's next
For Starling, the main question is whether a £1.7bn secondary print becomes the reference point for any future primary raise, sale or listing. The bank has not set out plans for any of these.
Boden is already working on something new. Last month she began recruiting software engineers for a project called "Moonshot". She has not disclosed its funding, structure or backers.
Original source: City AM, citing Sky News — https://www.cityam.com/starling-founder-anne-boden-offloads-stake-at-slashed-1-7bn-valuation/
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