Ebay rejects Gamestop’s not ‘credible nor attractive’ $56bn bid May 12, 2026 Global commerce giant Ebay has dismissed an audacious play from video game retailer Gamestop that sought to merge the two companies into a new titan to take on the dominance on Amazon. Ebay’s chairman Paul Pressler said the firm’s board had “thoroughly reviewed [the] proposal and has determined to reject it”. In a letter to [...]
‘Inflection point’: Challenger banks loan growth halved in 2025 May 5, 2026 Challenger banks have reached an “inflection point” after loan growth across the industry halved in the last year, a fresh report has warned. New analysis from Big Four firm EY showed lending growth across UK challenger, specialist and digital banks slowed to 4.5 per cent in 2025, down from 8.9 per cent. This came as [...]
Gamestop makes $56bn play for Ebay to take fight to Amazon May 4, 2026 Video game retailer Gamestop has made an unsolicited bid for e-commerce site Ebay in a bid to take the fight to Amazon. The world’s largest brick-and-mortar entertainment software retailer has made an offer to snap up Ebay that values the platform at $125 a share – a $20 premium on the stock’s closing price in [...]
Santander hits pause on €5bn buyback after US takeover April 23, 2026 Santander has been forced to hit the pause button on its bumper buyback programme announced earlier this year to comply with US regulation. The Spanish-headquartered bank told markets on Thursday it would temporarily suspend the €5bn (£4.3bn) buyback launched in February to comply with US regulation around its takeover of Webster. The lender struck a [...]
Gocardless axes 90 jobs as UK fintech targets profitability April 13, 2026 UK fintech Gocardless has taken the chop to its workforce as the firm sets its sights on breaking into the black in the new financial year. The London-based firm, which specialises in bank-to-bank payment solutions, said it had made a redundancy provision for around 90 roles in the year ending 30 June 2025. This led [...]
Ovo sues Talktalk over failed broadband customer deal April 12, 2026 Ovo Energy has launched legal action against Talktalk over a dispute stemming from a failed broadband customer transfer, adding pressure on both companies as they battle financial challenges. The claim centres on a 2022 deal in which Ovo sold a telecoms business, originally acquired through its takeover of SSE Energy Services , to Talktalk, transferring [...]
Virgin Money swallowed up by Nationwide as top boss exits April 7, 2026 The boss of Virgin Money is set to depart the firm later this years as the UK bank fully consolidates into the Nationwide umbrella. Chris Rhodes took the reins at Virgin Money following its acquisition by Nationwide in late 2024. Before this post, Rhodes served as finance boss at the UK’s largest building society for [...]
Motor finance compensation to ‘to fire starting gun’ on banking M&A March 31, 2026 The financial watchdog’s long-awaited motor finance redress scheme is predicted to “fire the starting gun” on a wave of deals throughout the banking sector. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched the final rules for its redress programme on Monday, with the bill for lenders expected to come in at just north of £9bn, down from [...]
Natwest sells HR advisory arm in latest structure overhaul March 25, 2026 Natwest has sold its human resources advisory arm to a private-equity backed rival in the latest deal by the banking giant on the road to streamlining its operations. The FTSE 100 titan has offloaded Mentor – its small business HR support service – to Empowering People Group, a specialist HR service backed by Limerston Capital. [...]
Federal Reserve orders Oaknorth to set up UK holding firm March 23, 2026 Digital bank Oaknorth has been ordered by the US financial watchdog to switch its domicile to the UK to get the green light on its takeover of a Michigan-based bank. The small business lender is exploring plans to establish a new UK holding company as a way to seal the deal on its acquisition of [...]