On Wednesday the Co-operative Group announced that it has withdrawn from discussions relating to the purchase of 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches.
The boards of the Co-operative Group and Co-operative Bank plc decided that it was not in the best interests of the Group’s members to proceed further at this time.
Peter Marks, Group Chief Executive of The Co-operative Group, said: “After detailed and thorough consideration of all aspects of the Verde transaction, we have decided, at this time, that it is not in the best interests of our members to proceed with the transaction.
“Having worked closely and constructively with Lloyds we are naturally disappointed to have reached this conclusion.
“However, against the backdrop of the current economic environment, the worsened outlook for economic growth and the increasing regulatory requirements on the financial services sector in general, the Verde transaction would not currently deliver a suitable return for our members within a reasonable timeframe and with an acceptable level of risk.”
Mr Marks said the group remained committed to offering a real alternative on the high street with our strong, established brand and our reputation as a trusted financial services business, but withdrawal from this deal would seem to be a major blow to these plans.
The BBC even speculated whether the Co-op might at some point withdraw from banking altogether.
What will this mean for conveyancing? When the group made the transition to become an ABS and were in the process of acquiring the Lloyds branches, they had the potential to roll out conveyancing across 1,000 branches.
With access to such a large captive audience they could have shaken up the conveyancing market, but without the Lloyds branches is this now unlikely?
Without the Co-op as a buyer what will this mean for the Lloyds branches?
It was previously thought that if the Co-operative cannot commit then Lloyds would go ahead with trying to run the branches as a stand-alone bank through a public share offer.
So will they use the Lloyds Bank panel? Or will they develop a separate panel? If so will it be an open or closed panel?
