British bank Alliance and Leicester is to be bought by Santander according to an announcement stating an agreement had been reached between the two parties.
The purchase price is understood to be GBP1.26 billion, the transaction to be made in shares. Santander will give one of their shares for every three Alliance and Leicester ones, giving the shares a value of 299 pence each which is around 33 percent higher than the share value at the close of business last week.
Interestingly, although the Alliance and Leicester as well as many other UK and international banks have suffered on the back of the credit crunch Santander have had a very good year. They have seen good returns from Latin America it appears and this has enabled them to look at acquisitions such as this one.
A study by the Abbey National Business Bank department has found that around a third of small business owners are worried about the coming 12 months.
They see their economic prospects for the period as being of concern and even poor according to the feedback received by the Abbey National. About 12 percent of respondents claimed to see an increase in clients not paying bills, with about thirty percent seeing payment delays.
On a positive note though the Abbey National also saw some 14 percent of small business owners feeling that economic difficulties will bring opportunities. It is all about perspective said a spokesman, that and the ability to effectively manage cashflow to maintain the business when money is slow to come in.
According to a recent study on current account holders in the UK, it has been revealed that people who have switched to a new bank account have had problems.It was found that a large majority of bank account holders had difficulties when switching and that the bank also did not offer any help with the issue.This recent study backs up the main reason why many people do not switch current accounts for many years or perhaps years, as the process is seen to be too difficult or more trouble than its worth. The problem lies for consumers that by not switching bank accounts, consumers are then missing out on cheaper banking with another bank.See our current accounts comparison table for the latest offers. Plus, reading our guides and tips pages can offer consumers more detailed information and money saving hints.