Nationwide to complete £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money after FCA and PRA approval
Nationwide is to complete its £2.9bn takeover of rival Virgin Money next month after the deal was given the green light by the UK’s financial regulators.
The banks said in statement issued to the London Stock Exchange that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have both approved the move.
It comes after the building society agreed the takeover of its London-listed rival in March.
The deal was cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in July.
Following the deal being agreed, opposition mounted from shareholders who claimed it was undervalued.
In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, both lenders said they were “pleased to announce that the FCA and the PRA have given their requisite consent” for the tie-up.
“The acquisition will not require any immediate changes to the capital structure of the Virgin Money Group or the combined group as a whole” they said.
They added that as “all relevant regulatory approvals have now been received, Virgin Money will proceed to seek the sanction of the scheme by the court in accordance with the timetable”.
Nationwide said that it “is pleased to announce that Muir Mathieson is appointed chief financial officer and executive director of Nationwide with effect from the date of this announcement”.
Chris Rhodes is standing down from the Nationwide board with immediate effect and will spend the period until completion preparing to become the chief executive of Virgin Money.
The deal is still subject to other approvals, including from courts, expected to take place on 27 September with the scheme set to go live on 1 October.
Within the agreement, Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson is set to receive upwards of £650m from a potential takeover of his challenger bank.
The billionaire, who coined the Virgin name in 1972, has struck a “brand licence agreement” with Nationwide as part of the negotiations, under which the building society would stop using the Virgin Money name after four years.