Royal Bank of Scotland buys Virgin One

The Royal Bank of Scotland is paying AMP and Virgin £100m in cash and £65m in security for the remaining half of their stake in the joint venture Virgin One. The Edinburgh based bank already owns the other half of Virgin One, a specialist in current account mortgages. The funding arrangement means the sale will return £120m of shareholder capital to AMP and £45m to Virgin. The purchase is part of a strategic plan for Royal Bank of Scotland to expand into the UK mortgage market as the number of homebuyers soars. AMP is to concentrate on the UK fund management market where it...