Co-operative Bank cool on Shawbrook merger ‘speculation’

A mooted merger between two private equity backed banks has been dismissed as “media speculation” by one of the parties contacted by TheBusinessDesk.com this morning.

Sky News reported on Saturday that advisers from Barclays had been appointed by Shawbrook to propose a merger with the Manchester headquartered Co-operative Bank.

Since formally separating from the Co-operative Group, the Co-op Bank has been owned by US-based hedge funds.

A Co-operative spokesperson said the stories over the weekend were “media speculation” and declined to comment further.

In July 2017, a consortium jointly led by BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital acquired Shawbrook Group plc in a public to private transaction.

Shawbrook is a specialist lender with a diversified and growing balance sheet serving SMEs, property investors and consumers in the UK and operates across Property Finance, Business Finance, Consumer Lending and Savings.

A spokesperson for Shawbrook Bank said they had no comment to make at this time.

Co-operative Bank’s shareholders have also previously discussed a merger with Spanish-owned TSB.

Most recently income and profits have steadily increased at Co-operative delivering a “strong” financial performance, it said on 28 July this year.

In the six months to June 30, 2023, the bank achieved a total income of £266.5m, up from £229.6m, although pre-tax profits were static at £61.8m.