The UK Treasury has acquired all the shares in Bradford & Bingley. All share options and other entitlements to shares issued by the company have been extinguished and the group's savings business and branches, which have GBP20 billion in deposits and 2.7 million customers, have been transferred to the Banco Santander group, in each case, by way of a transfer order made under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008.
According to The Press Association, Santander will pay nearly GBP612 million for the transaction.
Santander is a group of banking and financial companies that operates through a network of offices and subsidiaries across Spain and other European and Latin American countries (including the UK). With the transfer of Bradford & Bingley’s savings business to Santander, savings customers can be confident that their money is secure in a well funded bank, said Bradford & Bingley.
The rest of the group’s business, including the mortgage operation, has been taken into public ownership by the government. Mortgage customers should continue to make payments as usual, the bank added. Both the savings business and mortgage operations will continue to operate as normal through these changes and branches, ATMs and online accounts will all be operating as usual, maintained Bradford & Bingley.