Banco Santander, the owner of Abbey, is said to be furious about the Government's decision to waive competition rules for Lloyds TSB's £12bn takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland, reports The Independent.
Spain's biggest bank has agreed to buy Alliance & Leicester but would have considered a bid for HBOS instead if it had known the deal might be allowed. Santander was seen as a potential bidder for HBOS in recent days but decided that adding Britain's biggest mortgage lender to Abbey and A&L would make it too big in the UK. Santander believed that its swoop for A&L, approved by shareholders this week, was the biggest deal available for it to add to Abbey, which it bought in 2004. The Spanish bank will now lag way behind Lloyds-HBOS. Sir Victor Blank, Lloyds TSB's chairman, said yesterday ...
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