Nationwide’s £2.9bn bid for Virgin Money gets green light from market authorities

The Nationwide has been given the go ahead by the market authorities to press ahead with its £2.9bn acquisition of Virgin Money.

The  Competition and Markets Authority has said the Virgin Money-Nationwide deal can go ahead.

The Swindon based lender is expected to complete the £2.9bn deal by the end of the year.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which opened an investigation into the deal last month, said in a statement the combination of the two firms was a “relevant merger situation” that would not give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition.

The deal is expected to result in one of the biggest shake-ups in the UK retail banking market in years and will create the country’s second biggest mortgage lender after Lloyds Banking Group.

The CMA said it had received concerns from individuals who were of the view that Nationwide’s members should have had the opportunity to vote on the acquisition of Virgin Money.

However, the concerns did not fall within the scope of its investigation.

The transaction, which is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of this year, stands to create a combined group with some 700 branches and assets of roughly £366.3bn.

Virgin Money is the UK’s sixth largest retail bank with about 6.6 million customers. Nationwide has almost 18 million customers.

Nationwide says the deal will give it access to business banking, cheaper funding and the lender’s profits.

It plans to run Virgin Money as a separate brand for at least four years as it gradually integrates the two lenders.