The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has unconditionally cleared Nationwide Building Society’s previously announced £2.9bn acquisition of financial services company Virgin Money UK following its phase 1 probe.
According to the antitrust regulatory authority, the deal will not be further investigated under section 33(1) of the Enterprise Act 2002.
For its merger assessment, the regulator gathered evidence from competitors, mortgage brokers, and price comparison websites. It also engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
The British competition watchdog found that the proposed merger will not result in a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in the supply of owner-occupied mortgages, buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages and credit cards.
Nationwide Building Society chief executive Debbie Crosbie said: “This is another important step on the path to completing the acquisition of Virgin Money, with all the benefits for members and customers that this will bring.
“We remain on course to receive all the necessary approvals to complete the deal in the final three months of this year.”
Announced in March this year, the UK-based mutual financial institution’s acquisition of Virgin Money UK is expected to expedite the former’s strategy as well as expand its products and services faster.
Besides, the proposed deal will create a combined group with total assets of nearly £366.3bn and total lending and advances of around £283.5bn. The combined entity is said to become the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.
Under the terms of the deal, each shareholder of Virgin Money UK will receive 220p in cash for each of the shares they hold in the company.
Subject to other requisite conditions, the proposed transaction is expected to be completed in Q4 2024.
