HSBC reportedly enters race to buy Tesco’s banking business
HSBC is reportedly interested in buying Tesco’s banking arm and has tabled an offer for the business, according to Sky News.
HSBC is reportedly eyeing up Tesco Bank
It becomes the latest UK high-street bank to enter the race for the supermarket giant’s banking unit, with Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group reported to have also made offers.
In February last year, Sky News first reported Tesco Bank’s interest in exploring a sale, with Goldman Sachs being roped in as an advisor.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, Tesco Bank employs over 3,500 people and claims to serve more than five million customers in the UK, offering savings accounts, insurance products and credit cards.
Its intention to explore a potential sale of its banking business follows a growing trend in the UK. Last month, Coventry Building Society was reportedly eyeing a takeover of Manchester-based Co-operative Bank.
In February 2023, the Co-operative Bank was reportedly looking to buy Sainsbury’s Bank’s £650 million mortgage loan book, which would have seen the latter exit the UK mortgage market, but a deal did not materialise.
In a similar move, Tesco Bank left the UK mortgage market in 2019 after selling its mortgage book to Lloyds Banking Group for £3.8 billion.
