Santander on the verge of acquiring Royal Bank of Scotland branches
Santander, the Spanish financial giant which owns the likes of Abbey, Alliance and Leicester and parts of the former Bradford and Bingley operation, is rumoured to be on the verge of signing a deal to acquire 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland. In effect the deal has been signed sealed and delivered for some time because Santander was the only real serious bidder left at the table but it is expected to confirm the deal either tomorrow or Wednesday.
The transaction will see the 300+ branches change hands for around £1.8 billion which is slightly in excess of the net asset value of the assets. However, there's no doubt that this will give Santander a massive influence over the UK market and the opportunity to grow yet further. This is a company which has timed a number of UK-based transactions to perfection and is indeed on the verge of spinning off its UK operations into a separate company.
At a time when many competitors are struggling to maintain their market share, Santander has actually increased its share of various areas of the financial arena and looks well-positioned to maintain this trend going forward. Even though the UK government had hoped that a new bidder would enter the fray and attempt to shake up the UK banking arena it seems that we will be left with the same old names for some time to come.
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