Santander confirms RBS deal
SPANISH banking group Santander has paid £1.65bn for a string of Royal Bank of Scotland business banking centres and 318 branches, 120 of them in the North West.
Santander confirmed the deal this morning. The purchase price is subject to completion adjustments and includes £350m of goodwill.
The acquisition includes 311 RBS branches in England and Wales and seven under the NatWest banner in Scotland. There are also 40 small business banking centres, four for corporates and three private banking centres.
Santander said the deal would affect 1.8 million retail customers, around 244,000 small and medium-sized enteprise (SME) customers and around 1,200 in the mid-corporate bracket. Completion is expected at the end of 2011.
In the wake of the banking crisis those banks that received Government help were told to sell some of their assets to increase competition in the sector. RBS is selling the branches under the Williams & Glyn’s name, a business and retail brand owned by RBS but not used since the 1980s.
Santander, which also owns Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and part of Bradford & Bingley, emerged as the sole bidder earlier in the year after Yorkshire Bank’s parent, National Australia Bank, pulled out of the race. Other potential bidders that also dropped out were Virgin Money and private equity firm Blackstone.
The Williams & Glyn’s business has around £20bn of loans and other assets and 2% of Britain’s retail banking market. Around 70% of its assets are loans and credit to small and medium-sized businesses, with the balance issued to households.
