Virgin MoneyMay 8 2018

Virgin Money receives takeover bid

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Virgin Money receives takeover bid

CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, has made a takeover approach for Virgin Money.

Virgin Money, which is part of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, said, in a statement issued today (8 may), that it had received a "preliminary and conditional proposal from CYBG to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital".

The statement added the board of Virgin Money was in the process of reviewing the proposal.

Under the terms of the proposal, Virgin Money shareholders would receive 1.1297 new CYBG shares for each Virgin Money share they possess.

In a statement, CYBG said: "CYBG believes the combination would create the UK's leading challenger bank offering both personal and small and medium sized enterprise (SME) customers a genuine alternative to the large incumbent banks.

"The combination would provide a powerful full-service banking offer, including leading digital and mobile banking services, for six million personal and business customers, bringing together the complementary strengths of CYBG and Virgin Money."

CYBG added that it recognised the "strength and appeal" of the Virgin Money brand, and would seek agreement with the Virgin Group to retain this in some way.

Virgin Money, which is based in Newcastle, was formed in 1995 as Virgin Direct offering personal equity plans but moved into retail banking shortly before buying Northern Rock in 2012 after it had been nationalised following the credit crunch.

Since floating on the London Stock Exchange in 2014, Virgin Money has been 35 per cent owned by the Virgin Group and 12 per cent owned by Standard Life Aberdeen.

During 2017 Virgin Money saw its profits increase to £192m after growing its mortgage lending by 13.2 per cent.

damian.fantato@ft.com