NBNK to bid for Northern Rock
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New banking venture NBNK plans to submit a bid for Northern Rock after the Government lifted a ban preventing it from putting in an offer, according to reports.
NBNK was launched and listed on Aim in August 2010 by Lord Levene and former Treasury select committee chairman Lord McFall as an acquisition vehicle to create a new banking group.
NBNK chief executive Gary Hoffman was chief executive at Northern Rock until last November. Under his exit terms, Hoffman was prohibited from making a bid for Northern Rock for 12 months.
According to the Daily Mail, Hoffman approached Northern Rock and UK Financial Investments earlier this month and was given clearance to start work on a bid.
In September, reports suggested NBNK was in talks with National Australia Bank to buy its Yorkshire and Clydesdale brands as a gateway to acquiring the 632 branches Lloyds has been forced to put up for sale by the European Commission.
Many are speculating the NBNK may join the Lloyds and Northern Rock branches to create a new high street bank.
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Readers' comments (1)
Bill Wells | 17 Oct 2011 9:01 am
Sounds like another Phoenix-type stitch-up to me ! Lords making a fortune out of the priveleged information and connections they have had with these institutions prior to failure - there's something rotten going on.
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