Lloyds readies branches sale
INVESTMENT banks are finalising sale documents that will start the bidding process for £4.4bn worth of assets at Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock.
Citigroup and JP Morgan are putting the finishing touches to the information memorandum for the £3bn Lloyds branches, which will then be delivered to potential bidders over the next week.
Britain finished with a 41 per cent stake in Lloyds after it had to bail it out with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. The bank was then ordered by regulators to sell 600 branches, although the government’s Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) has suggested it might yet have to sell more to boost competition.
The sale document, containing details of which branches Lloyds has included, will start a six-month process to select a bidder for the estate.
Lloyds declined to comment.
Deutsche Bank is also said to be compiling an information memorandum to market state-owned Northern Rock and its 70 branches. This is expected to generate about £1.4bn for the Treasury.
“We are still exploring options for sale,” a Northern Rock spokeswoman said.