Virgin seeks sale of JV share
Virgin group chairman Sir Richard Branson is in talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland about selling his 25 per cent share in the Virgin banking business, Virgin One, according to a report in London’s Sunday Telegraph.
Other shareholders in the business are AMP which has 25 per cent in the joint venture, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has the remaining 50 per cent.
The report also states that the Bank is interested not only in buying Virgin’s share, but in snapping up AMP’s share in the venture. The deal with Virgin is said to be worth $A700 million.
AMP is currently involved with three separate joint ventures with Virgin. The other two businesses are Virgin Money, which is an online supermarket of finance products and services which is a fifty-fifty deal between AMP and Virgin; and financial advice business Virgin Direct, also split down the middle between the two parties.
The joint venture in which the Royal Bank of Scotland is interested is an account mortgage business. A spokesperson for AMP in Australia says AMP refuses to comment on the speculation in Britain.
Recently AMP was at loggerheads with Virgin with which it partnered the Virgin Direct financial planning business, when the Australian funds management giant bought Interactive Investor International (III) last week.
It is believed that AMP is under pressure from its shareholders to ditch its interest in the joint venture with Virgin, while until recently, Virgin had wanted AMP to continue with the partnership and build further on its online presence in financial services.
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