Bid deadline as interest in Co-operative Bank hots up

A number of “credible” bidders are circling the Co-operative Bank as the troubled lender revealed an April deadline for preliminary offers.

The announcement comes after Banco Sabadell on Tuesday joined a growing list of lenders shunning the chance to snap up the business, with Secure Trust pulling out and Metro Bank stating it is only interested in parts of the lender.

The bank said parties must express an initial interest in the first half of April.

“Following an assessment of those preliminary expressions of interest, the bank plans to proceed to a second phase of the sale process where selected parties will be provided with additional information in order to continue their due diligence with a view to making an offer for all of the issued ordinary share capital of the bank,” the group said.

However, it added there is no certainty a final offer will be made or be accepted by the bank and its shareholders.

Alongside the second part of the sale process, the bank said it will continue to try and raise cash from new and existing investors.

The lender, which has been working with advisers UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, put the business up for sale on February 13.

The move comes after its ability to meet longerterm UK bank regulatory capital requirements was hampered by low interest rates and transformation and “conduct remediation” costs.