Clive Cowdery has launched an audacious £400m bid to take control of Bradford & Bingley (B&B), with a plan to use the company to consolidate the UK's smaller banks and lenders.
Under his new Resolution Limited vehicle, Cowdery has teamed up with four of the largest B&B investors – Standard Life, Legal & General, Prudential and Insight – to force the lender to abandon its plan to offload a 23% stake to US private equity firm TPG. Resolution says it plans to turn B&B into a “new, larger and stronger bank” by consolidating the current fragmented UK smaller banks and lenders sector. It says consolidation would require a £2bn capital investment over the next two years. However, the Bradford & Bingley board has rejected the proposal, saying it would not recommend th...
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