18th Nov 2020 09:33
(Alliance News) - The Co-Operative Bank has entered takeover discussions with a US private US equity firm, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/17/co-op-bank-reveals-takeover-approach-by-unnamed-party
The bank said a "financial sponsor with knowledge and experience of investing in European financial services businesses regarding the possibility of a sale of the bank and/or the holding company" had made an approach.
While Co-Op Bank did not name the "financial sponsor", the Guardian said "it is understood that New York-based Cerberus Capital Management is behind the bid".
The bank is, at present, owned by a group of US hedge funds that includes GoldenTree, Anchorage Capital, Silver Point Capital, Blue Mountain and Cyrus Capital, plus fund manager Invesco. These own 85% of the bank combined, and the rest is held by undisclosed institutional investors.
The newspaper noted that: "News of the potential bid adds to a list of possible takeovers in the UK banking sector, including Sainsbury's Bank, which was recently approached by NatWest Group."
J Sainsbury PLC on Tuesday confirmed it has received interest in Sainsbury's Bank, but said it remains focused instead on delivering on its five-year plan for the lending arm of the supermarket chain.
"We have received some very preliminary expressions of interest in the bank, but this does not mean anything will come of these discussions," Sainsbury said. "Our management team remains focused on delivering the plan" set out earlier this month.
This followed an article published by Sky News on October 31 which said Sainsbury's "has begun exploring a sale of the banking arm". On Thursday last week, a follow-up article was published by Sky News saying that NatWest Group PLC was among the "suitors circling Sainsbury's Bank".
The Guardian said Tuesday that speculation is building "that the UK banking sector is heading for a wave of merger and takeover deals."
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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