NatWest has agreed to buy most of Sainsbury’s Bank for £125m.
The high street bank will acquire £2.5bn of gross customer assets, comprising £1.4bn of unsecured personal loans and £1.1bn of credit card balances, together with around £2.6bn of customer deposits.
The supermarket’s ATMs, insurance, travel money and Argos Financial Services are not included in the deal.
NatWest Group chief executive Paul Thwaite says: “This transaction is a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our Retail Banking business at attractive returns, in line with our strategic priorities.
“As well as a complementary customer base, the transaction is expected to add scale to our credit card and unsecured personal lending business within existing risk appetite.”
Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts adds: “There will be no immediate change for our bank customers as a result of this announcement. Today’s news means we will focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business.”
