Nationwide-Virgin merger faces competition probe

[Pelican Press 0]

Nationwide-******* merger faces competition probe

The proposed merger between Nationwide and ******* Money is to be investigated by the ***’s competition watchdog.

The country’s biggest building society announced the £2.9bn deal with its smaller rival in March.

It is the largest banking merger since the 2008 financial crisis and create the ***’s second-largest provider of mortgages and savings.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will examine whether it would result in a substantial lessening of competition within the *** banking sector.

The takeover would result in a combined group with 700 branches, second only to Lloyds Banking Group.

The combined assets of the groups would total roughly £366.3bn.

******* Money is now the ***’s sixth largest retail bank with around 6.6 million customers, while Nationwide has nearly 18 million customers.

When the deal was struck, Nationwide said it would not make any material changes to ******* Money’s 7,300 employees “in the near term”.

It said that it would keep using the ******* Money brand initially but it would be phased out over six years once the proposed takeover is completed.

Last week, ******* Money shareholders voted in favour of Nationwide’s offer, despite concerns from some investors that the takeover might “sell shareholders very short”.

The CMA has set a 40-day deadline for the first phase of its investigation.

In this initial *******, the CMA will evaluate whether the transaction constitutes a “relevant merger situation” and if it could lead to a substantial lessening of competition.

The CMA is inviting comments from any interested parties, with the consultation ******* closing on 14 June.

The outcome of this investigation will be crucial in determining whether Nationwide deal with ******* Money can proceed without modifications or if further scrutiny and potential remedies will be required to preserve competition in the market.

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