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2nd UPDATE: Virgin Money Moves Into UK Retail Banking - WSJ.com
Virgin Money, part of Richard Branson's Virgin empire, took big strides on Friday towards becoming a major British retail bank, able to compete in a battered sector. Virgin Money said it had agreed to buy regional private bank, Church House Trust for £12.28 million (13.7 million euros, $19.6 million). It plans to use the lender as a platform to offer savings and mortgage products to customers under the Virgin Money brand, which is known for its popular credit card and insurance offerings. The purchase is also seen as providing a platform for Virgin Money to buy an even bigger bank, providing true competition to Britain's biggest retail lenders.
Virgin steps up bid to become major British bank
The £50m deal to buy Church House Trust was announced to the City this morning. It is a key part of Sir Richard Branson's attempt to challenge the UK's major high street banks , and comes two years after Virgin failed to win control of Northern Rock . "Virgin Money aims to bring simplicity to the UK banking market, which has traditionally been a complex sector," said Branson, who believes the move gives Virgin "a strong platform for growth". Virgin Money offers various personal financial products, including credit cards, insurance and pensions. Acquiring Church House Trust gives Virgin a banking licence, putting it in a position to take deposits from savers and offer mortgages.
Virgin Money moves into retail banking | Business | guardian.co.
The buy-out house is among several firms that Virgin has talked to as it works on finding a partner for its financial services business in preparation for its move on Northern Rock's "good bank" spun out of the state-owned lender and thought to be worth up to £2bn. Last week, Virgin bought the little-known Church House Trust bank, which has 3,000 customers and no branches, for £12.3m. The acquisition gave Virgin a full banking licence as CHT already has systems and processes approved by the Financial Services Authority that enable it to offer mortgages and current accounts. Its talks with Blackstone underline Sir Richard's ambition to break into the UK mortgages and savings market and could lay the foundation for the first private equity-backed UK bank.
Sir Richard Branson taps Blackstone for assault on Northern Rock
It has appointed Finlay Williamson, ex-finance director of The Royal Bank of Scotland as chief financial officer, Ian Cornelius, ex-director of retail products at Bradford & Bingley as managing director and Marcus Ezekiel, ex-head of legal at HBOS Retail division, as commercial director.
Virgin Money appoints RBS, B&B and Lloyds directors | News | Mor
Virgin Money CEO says eyeing UK banking assets | Reuters
LONDON Feb 25 (Reuters) - Virgin Money is "still interested, still looking" to buy up banking assets in Britain, chief executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia said on Thursday. The group is looking to IPO in about five years time, Gadia said at a conference. The consumer credit arm of Richard Branson's Virgin is frequently named as a potential suitor for a slice of the billions of pounds in British banking assets, set to be sold over the coming months and years, including making another approach for failed mortgage lender Northern Rock.