One of the largest banks in Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, is considering buying into Barclays Bank as they seek to raise GBP4 billion capital.
Sumitomo Mitsui is considering a 100 billion Yen investment, which would be around GBP500 million. Barclays also have serious interest from some other investors too and if everything goes as planned then the GBP4 billion needed will be achieved with money to spare.
An announcement is expected from Barclays Bank in the next week or so, though existing Barclays investors have to give their final approval before the deals can go ahead. Sumitomo Mitsui are certainly very keen on the deal since they have been finding it difficult to locate good investment opportunities in China.
Alliance and Leicester shares leapt by almost 50 percent today as news of an agreement regarding the takeover of the bank by Santander was announced.
At a price of 317 pence per share the Alliance and Leicester is being valued at GBP1.33 billion, a price that the Spanish based buyer is happy to pay. The deal is based on trading one Santander share for three Alliance and Leicester ones, making it a very attractive proposition for shareholders and stimulating such fierce trading in them today.
The offer cannot go through without agreement by at least 75 percent of the Alliance and Leicester shareholders, though this is not expected to be an issue. If successful the bid would give Santander, with its other existing UK holdings, a share of the UK savings and unsecured personal loan markets in excess of 8 percent.
The new management team at Northern Rock is looking into whether they can take legal action against the previous board that led the bank into such difficulties last year.
At the moment the matter is in the hands of lawyers acting on behalf of Northern Rock who are in the process of looking into the situation to determine what can be done. Only after their analysis is complete will there be any decision made on pursuing the matter through the courts.
Elsewhere at Northern Rock the bank is aiming to increase the debt collection part of its business by well over 100 percent as they plan for the financial difficulties that may face their customers in the future. There are currently around 170 people in this particular department though that number will be closer to 450 after the extra staff have been brought on board.