TSB Banking Group has confirmed that it has received a £1.7bn takeover proposal from Spanish banking group Banco de Sabadell SA.
In an announcement on the London Stock Exchange this morning (12 March), TSB said the proposal is for 340 pence per TSB share.
TSB confirmed it has 500m ordinary shares, which would amount to a sale price of £1.7bn. Following the news, TSB’s shares rocketed almost 26 per cent to 332.54p per share.
The board is currently in discussions with Sabadell in relation to these terms. Based on preliminary discussions, it believes that Sabadell could “support and accelerate” TSB’s retail growth strategy and assist the expansion of TSB’s presence in the SME sector.
“Sabadell recognises the achievement of TSB’s management and employees and would continue to operate TSB as a robust competitor in the UK banking market, building on the TSB brand name.”
The announcement added that Sabadell anticipates that under its ownership, TSB would be able to “further enhance its growth strategy and efficiency”, benefitting from Sabadell’s resources, experience gained in the Spanish banking market, as well as its track record of successful business and IT integrations.
TSB emphasised that the proposal may or may not result in a formal offer for the entire share capital.
Citigroup and Rothschild are acting as financial advisers to TSB and Goldman Sachs is acting as financial adviser to Sabadell.
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
