LONDON (AP) - The Nationwide Building Society, a British mortgage lender, said Monday it is taking over two smaller rivals.
Nationwide said it will absorb the Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies. The two small lenders sought out Nationwide to ease financial woes stemming from the global credit crunch. Both have said they expect to report losses for the first half of 2008.
"The Derbyshire and The Cheshire have independently concluded that a merger with Nationwide is in the best interests of their savers and borrowers, given the financial issues faced by both societies," said Nationwide chief executive Graham Beale.
All three organizations are mutual building societies, owned by their customers rather than external shareholders. The Cheshire has assets of 4.9 billion pounds ($8.7 billion), 45 branches and more than 440,000 customers. The Derbyshire has assets of 7.1 billion pounds ($12.7 billion), 50 branches and 485,000 customers.
The merged organization has almost 15 million customers, around 1,000 retail outlets, 191 billion pounds ($340 billion) in assets and 122 billion ($217 billion) in retail deposits.
Nationwide said it will retain the Derbyshire and Cheshire brands and branch networks. It will not be making any special payment to members of the two societies. |