The Co-operative Bank has been approached with a merger offer which would value the combined group at £3.5bn, Sky News reports.
The Manchester-headquartered bank, which is a seperate entity to the wider Co-op Group, reported pre-tax profits of £61.8m for the six months to June 30, compared to £61.9m in the same period in 2022.
Shawbrook, a specialist lender with a diversified balance sheet serving SMEs, property investors and consumers in the UK across Property Finance, Business Finance, Consumer Lending and Savings, is reported to have tabled a stock-based offer.
The Co-operative Bank has not made any official comment on the offer. It was reported in April that the bank was “exploring strategic options” that could see it be sold or undergoing an initial public offering (IPO), while it also made a reported- $1bn approach to merge with TSB in 2021.
