Slaughter and May is advising Nationwide Building Society (“Nationwide”) on its recommended all-cash acquisition of Virgin Money UK PLC (“Virgin Money”), which was announced on 21 March 2024. The acquisition values the entire issued share capital of Virgin Money at approximately £2.9 billion.
Nationwide is the world's largest building society, with over 17 million customers, 16 million of whom have a current account, mortgage or savings product, and are therefore members of the Society. Nationwide is owned by its members and focuses on providing banking products and services to its customers. The combination of its mutual ownership model and scale puts Nationwide in a unique position within the UK financial services ecosystem.
Virgin Money is the UK’s sixth largest retail bank with approximately 6.6 million retail and business customers across the UK. It is a FTSE 250 company, with ordinary shares listed on the London Stock Exchange and CHESS Depositary Interests listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The acquisition would create a combined group with enhanced financial strength, including through access to greater diversity of funding, notably from business deposits, and the opportunity to generate improved returns. The combined group is expected to have total assets of approximately £366.3 billion and total lending and advances of approximately £283.5 billion, representing the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.
Slaughter and May is working closely with the Nationwide in-house legal team, and as part of an integrated team with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, headed by Sandy Mak, who are providing advice on Australian law matters.