Monday, Jul 14, 2008

Hot off the press!

BBC: Santander 'agrees' to A&L takeover

I wonder if this will go the way of the TPG/B&B takeover?

Posted by mark wadsworth @ 11:58 AM (1301 views) Add Comment

14 Comments

1. jonb said...

Nevertheless, if your combined savings in Abbey and A&L exceed £35k, you need to move some elsewhere as soon as possible.

Monday, July 14, 2008 12:00PM Report Comment
 

2. fahrenheit451 said...

Are they getting desperate, the Spanish property market has all but stopped construction work. What's the agenda, why does Santander need the extra securities. And will this lead to a merger of the Abbey and A&L brands. I'm thinking Waggon Finance, N&P in 1995 ish.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2000/09/08/cnabb08.xml
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19950515/ai_n13982597
http://www.aboutabbey.com/csgs/Satellite?c=GSInformacion&cid=282596177748111&pagename=AboutAbbey%2FGSInformacion%2FPAAI_generic

Monday, July 14, 2008 12:30PM Report Comment
 

3. inbreda said...

my put options were in profit in A&L, goddamit, that's gone. I think I will take out more put options in the hope that this deal fails.

Monday, July 14, 2008 12:31PM Report Comment
 

4. Rm96696 said...

Hurrah, santa claus has arrived! Soon we'll be back to double digit house price inflation.

Monday, July 14, 2008 12:52PM Report Comment
 

5. renting2 said...

I heard that A&L shares had gone up in anticipation?? Glad I haven't got a job in Abbey/A&L, how many redundancies?

Monday, July 14, 2008 12:58PM Report Comment
 

6. renting2 said...

Brits own a large part of spanish property and the spaniards own a large part of UK banking. Who got the better deal I wonder??

Monday, July 14, 2008 02:42PM Report Comment
 

7. p. doff said...

What a bummer. I've got 1 yr bonds in Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, so can't cash them in.
I feel all exposed now!

Monday, July 14, 2008 02:50PM Report Comment
 

8. little professor said...

A&L shares now up 50% so far today. Not good news for anyone shorting them.

Monday, July 14, 2008 02:54PM Report Comment
 

9. James said...

jonb - pdoff - why? I know the scheme limits protection to £35k, but I'd much rather have £70k with Santander than £35k each with Shabby and A&L.

Monday, July 14, 2008 03:19PM Report Comment
 

10. nooneo said...

As one of Britains top sup prime lenders (oh yes, we have our own sub-prime "self certification" market) I really wonder if the same people who said "there'll never be a HPC here" are the same "experts" that decide they want to buy a bank in trouble because of already hard to get liquidity? I do wonder if the snatander people A. Know something we don't or B. Are just not seeing the bigger picture!

What's the difference with Northern Crock? If the A & L is worth buying and NR not, what on earth are we as taxpayers doing owning this piece of sh**e?

Monday, July 14, 2008 03:37PM Report Comment
 

11. plato said...

As Spain moves forward,the banking sector is an attractive proposition as there are some apparent bargains (in terms of what they WERE worth) just waiting to be snapped up. Could be a good move. Could be disastrous. Volatility Rules
The shares may have jumped, but it's pathetic compared to the highs. Like being grateful for a slice of bread when you're starving.
Desperate deal usually good for the buyer but not always. Customers/Shareholders will pay in any case.

Monday, July 14, 2008 04:02PM Report Comment
 

12. jonb said...

James,

If you have £35k each with Shabby and A&L, then you will almost certainly end up with £70k in Shabby.

They will almost certainly be looking for cost synergies from the deal. That means that where there is an Abbey branch and an A&L branch near by, and most A&L branches are on the same high street as Abbey branches; they will close one of them. And they will combine their central administration and so on to have one call centre dealing with customers from both banks.

Monday, July 14, 2008 09:05PM Report Comment
 

13. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.

 

14. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.

 

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