The battle for Northern Rock has been whittled down two bidders, after Cerberus, the American private equity firm, dropped out of the running for the troubled bank, The Times reports.
Sources close to the bank said that only two bids were being seriously considered by the Northern Rock board and its advisers. Virgin Group remains the preferred bidder, but shareholders favour a proposal from a consortium led by Luqman Arnold, the former Abbey National chief executive. Northern Rock is expected to update the market within days on the effect on itgs finances of the credit crunch. The bank promised in September that it would issue a pre-close statement in “early December”. THE CREDIT CRUNCH has taken its toll on the FTSE 100 with seven companies set to be relegated from ...
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