12th March, 2015 : TSB has confirmed it has received a preliminary £1.7bn takeover approach from Spanish bank Sabadell.
The approach to the UK challenger bank comes less than a year after it rejoined the London stock market after a split from Lloyds Banking Group.
TSB said its board was willing to recommend Sabadell’s 340p-a-share offer.
It said that Sabadell could support and accelerate its “retail growth strategy”.
TSB said if a takeover went ahead Sabadell would continue to “operate TSB as a robust competitor in the UK banking market, building on the TSB brand name”.
Shares in TSB – the UK’s seventh-biggest lender – soared by more than 25% after the announcement.
Sabadell, Spain’s fifth-biggest bank, plans to diversify by expanding overseas to offset sluggish growth in its home market.
Lloyds had been ordered to sell the bank by European regulators as a condition of its government bailout during the UK financial crisis of 2007 to 2009.
Lloyds still has a 50% stake in the business.
Shares in Lloyds moved slightly higher, rising nearly 2% on the news.
Source : BBC
