The Co-operative Bank has made a £464m deal to buy Sainsbury’s Bank’s mortgage portfolio.
In brief:
-The acquisition will see the transfer of around 3,500 customers with balances of about £479m to the Co-op Bank in its first purchase since coming back from the ‘brink of collapse’ in 2013.
-Months after reports suggested a deal between the two banks had broken down, the acquisition marks the full withdrawal of Sainsbury’s Bank from the mortgage space after it decided to stop all new mortgage sales in September 2019.
-The Co-op Bank has reportedly been looking for possible acquisitions for more than a year in an effort to consolidate mid-sized banks.
What does this mean?
“Once the transfer activity is complete, we look forward to welcoming the new customers who will benefit from our ambitious new technology platform, which will simplify our banking services and will make us more efficient, giving us the flexibility to introduce new products and services,” Co-op Bank CEO Nick Slape said.
