Virgin poised to buy the Rock in £1bn deal

The final bids for the nationalised bank are due this week, paving the way for the end of its four-year spell under taxpayer protection. Although there are two rival bidders, sources close to the auction placed Virgin as favourite, according to the Sunday Times. The sale is expected to crystallise a loss of at least £400m for taxpayers, who pumped in £1.4bn. The Newcastle-based bank also received billions of pounds of emergency loans. Virgin is backed by Wilbur Ross, the billionaire Wall Street investor, an Abu Dhabi investment fund and a large British pension fund. It was rumou...