Proactive Investors - Nationwide Building Society (LON:NBS) has completed its £2.9 billion takeover of Virgin Money UK PLC (LON:VMUK).
This means the UK’s fifth and sixth-largest retail banks have now merged to create a group boasting some 24.5 million customers.
Virgin Money’s shares have been cancelled from trading on the London Stock Exchange following the takeover, which Nationwide had first flagged up in March with an offer of 220p per share, alongside a 2p dividend.
The merger is set to see the Virgin Money brand ultimately disappear from highstreets, though this will take between four and six years yet as Nationwide fully absorbs the business.
“Nationwide is now a stronger mutual and able to deliver even greater value,” chief executive Debbie Crosbie commented.
Nationwide’s bid for Virgin Money had previously drawn scrutiny, as customers of the mutual, where a lender is owned by members rather than shareholders, demanded a vote over the takeover.