Abbey's merger talks with Banco Santander of Spain tops the business pages today following meetings in London and Madrid yesterday and City expectations that details of a bid will be released later today.
The FT says the UK bank has agreed a cash and shares offer, details of which will be published through regulatory news channels later today. An offer of about 580p per share is understood to have been made, with cash representing about 5% of the bid value. The merger will create the world’s eighth biggest bank, the paper adds. The Daily Telegraph says the takeover will be the biggest in the UK banking sector since HSBC took over Midland in 1992 “and the first by a European lender”. The paper gives a range of 560p to 580p as the value of the offer by BS. The trick will be to get the...
To continue reading this article...
Join Professional Adviser for free
- Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
- Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
- Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
- Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
- Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
- Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes