Financial Services 1997 - Company News Summary

Lloyds TSB is selling International Factors, the US-based provider of factoring and invoice discounting services, to BNY Financial Corp and expects to make a £160m profit on the deal.
24-Dec-1997

ABN Amro of the Netherlands is acquiring the Australian and New Zealand equity investment banking operations of BZW from Barclays Bank for about £71m.
23-Dec-1997

Credit Commercial de France is acquiring a 50% stake in Charterhouse, the UK merchant bank, from BHF of Germany for undisclosed terms, which will give it complete control.
23-Dec-1997

Hambros has agreed the sale of its banking business to Societe Generale of France for £300m, and the rest of its business will be wound down.
20-Dec-1997

Hambros has sold its corporate loan business to Generale de Banque of Belgium for a sum thought to be less than £10m.
19-Dec-1997

Charles Taylor is to acquire Richards Hogg, the marine average adjuster and claims consultant, for up to £11m.
16-Dec-1997

Old Mutual of South Africa is to acquire Capel Cure Myers Capital Management, the UK private client stockbroker, for undisclosed terms.
11-Dec-1997

Norwich Union has acquired Premium Search, the telephone-based motor and household insurance broker, for £17m.
09-Dec-1997

Capital One, the US credit card group, is planning to set up a £30m European operations centre in Nottingham, creating up to 900 jobs.
06-Dec-1997

Halifax is to relocate its treasury business from Yorkshire to London next year, and will be looking to recruit a further 100 staff.
04-Dec-1997

Liverpool Victoria is to acquire Landmark's motor and household insurance business from AIG of the US, in a deal worth about £50m.
03-Dec-1997

NatWest has sold most of the equities operations of NatWest Markets for £179m in a deal with Bankers Trust and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, and the remaining operations will be closed.
03-Dec-1997

Jardine Lloyd Thompson is acquiring Colburn French & Kneen Holdings, the Lloyds broker that specialises in marine insurance, for £5.25m.
26-Nov-1997

Merrill Lynch of the US has bid £3.1bn for Mercury Asset Management, an offer that would create one of the largest fund management groups in the world.
20-Nov-1997

Edward Jones, the US retail stockbroker, is planning to open 400 offices in the UK over the next seven years.
14-Nov-1997

Barclays is selling its European equities and corporate advisory operations to Credit Suisse First Boston for £100m.
13-Nov-1997

Friends Provident, the mutual life assurer, has announced a reverse takeover of Ivory & Sime, the fund manager, in a £132m deal that will result in the creation of a group called Friends Ivory & Sime.
08-Nov-1997

Abbey National is to set up a £5.8m telephone service and software development centre in Belfast, with £3.3m of government aid, creating 438 jobs.
05-Nov-1997

Baker Tilly is to merge with Casson Beckman to create the 13th largest accountancy firm in the UK.
23-Oct-1997

General Accident has acquired Canadian General Insurance Group for £270m, increasing its share of the Canadian market from under 7% to 10%.
21-Oct-1997

NatWest Group has sold NatWest Sellier Patrimoine and NatWest Sellier Gestion, the French investment management businesses, to Banque Bruxelles Lambert France for undisclosed terms.
21-Oct-1997

KPMG and Ernst & Young are planning a merger that will create the largest accountancy firm in the world, although the move could prompt regulators to take an even closer look at the merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse.
18-Oct-1997

Standard & Poor's of the US is acquiring Micropal, the UK mutual funds data provider, for undisclosed terms, which will help it provide a one-stop solution to the fund industry.
17-Oct-1997

Sun Life & Provincial is to sell its 83% stake in New Ireland, the Irish life assurance concern, to the Bank of Ireland for £190m.
15-Oct-1997

Zurich Group of Switzerland is planning to acquire BAT Industries' financial services companies, including Eagle Star and Allied Dunbar, which are valued at almost £10bn.
13-Oct-1997

Canada Life is acquiring the UK insurance operations of Metropolitan Life for about £175m, making it one of the top 20 life and pensions companies in the UK.
30-Sep-1997

Benfield is acquiring Greig Fester, the rival re-insurance company, for £120m.
26-Sep-1997

GE Capital is acquiring Credit Lyonnais's 54% stake in Woodchester, the Irish leasing company, in a deal that values Woodchester at £540m.
24-Sep-1997

Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse are planning a merger which would create the largest accountancy firm in the world, but the move is likely to face an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
19-Sep-1997

Rabobank, the Dutch co-operative bank, is preparing to build up its London investment banking business, and has asked head-hunters to find 400 staff.
19-Sep-1997

Premier Asset Management is acquiring Fleethope and Fleetlynx, the fund management operations, from Fraser Smith for £2.8m.
18-Sep-1997

Munich Re has acquired Apollo Underwriting, the Lloyd's managing agency that specialises in marine insurance, for about £3m.
17-Sep-1997

GE Capital has acquired Stalwart Group, the specialist insurance company, for £43m.
15-Sep-1997

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette of the US is acquiring London Global Securities, the securities lending concern, for undisclosed terms, as part of its ongoing international expansion strategy.
08-Sep-1997

Lloyds TSB has sold Business Technology Finance, the leasing finance company, to Newcourt Credit of Canada for £235m, in order to focus on its core retail banking business.
06-Sep-1997

Cattles is acquiring Lewis, the debt collection agency, for £7.7m.
05-Sep-1997

Bank of Scotland has increased its stake in EFT, the Scottish leasing company, from 11.6% to 92% and plans to integrate the business into its British Linen Leasing subsidiary.
03-Sep-1997

Lloyds TSB has sold its 90% stake in Schroder Munchmeyer Hengst, the German bank, to Union Bank of Switzerland for £100m, as SMH's focus on investment banking does not fit Lloyds' focus on retail banking.
27-Aug-1997

Royal Bank of Scotland is to acquire Birmingham Midshires building society for up to £630m, and members of the society could receive payouts averaging £850 when the deal is completed late next year.
14-Aug-1997

Willis Corroon is to merge its independent financial adviser business with that of Abbey National, creating the second largest such business in the UK.
06-Aug-1997

Abbey National is to open a call centre in Glasgow in November, creating 170 jobs.
05-Aug-1997

Aberdeen Asset Management has acquired Prolific, the fund manager, from Scottish Provident for £61m, in a deal that will give Scottish Provident a 41% stake in Aberdeen.
01-Aug-1997

Eagle Star is to acquire Preferred Direct, the direct motor insurer, from Friends Provident and others for £50m.
23-Jul-1997

Commercial Union has acquired a 55.8% stake in Union Financiere de France, the insurance and investment products company, from Credit Agricole Indosuez for £126m.
23-Jul-1997

Forbes of South Africa is acquiring Nelson Hurst, the UK insurance broker, for £84m.
17-Jul-1997

Axa of France is to merge its Sun Life & Provincial and Axa Equity & Law subsidiaries, creating the third largest life assurer in the UK.
03-Jul-1997

Eagle Star is acquiring La Suiza, the Spanish life and general insurance company, from Swiss Life for £27m.
03-Jul-1997

Bank of Scotland is to acquire EFT Group, the leasing company, for about £90m, and will merge it with its British Linen Leasing subsidiary.
01-Jul-1997

Zurich has acquired Scudder, Stevens & Clark, the US fund management company, in a £1.01bn deal which will reduce its reliance on the cyclical insurance industry.
28-Jun-1997

CE Heath, the insurance broker, is to undergo a £96m management buy-out.
28-Jun-1997

Fedsure of South Africa is moving into the UK with the acquisitions of Beale Dobie from Hambro Insurance Services for £15m, and Policy Portfolio.
28-Jun-1997

Abbey National is to acquire Cater Allen, the private banking group, for £191m in order to boost its offshore banking and treasury services divisions.
27-Jun-1997

Royal & Sun Alliance has acquired AMEV (General), the Irish non-life operation of Fortis Group, for £12m.
27-Jun-1997

Avco Trust is to set up a customer service centre in Sunderland, creating 220 jobs.
25-Jun-1997

Bank of Scotland is to set up a £10m call centre in Motherwell, creating 500 jobs.
14-Jun-1997

Bradford & Bingley is acquiring Mortgage Express from Lloyds TSB for £64m.
24-May-1997

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, the US investment bank, is to set up a private client services group in London, and expects to double its London staff to about 300 over the next few years.
19-May-1997

Midland Bank is to set up a call centre in Edinburgh to improve customer service, creating 600 jobs.
16-May-1997

De La Rue is acquiring the French-based smart card manufacturing business of Philips, for £54m.
16-May-1997

Portman Building Society is planning to merge with Greenwich Building Society to create the sixth largest building society in the UK with assets of £4.3bn.
13-May-1997

Commercial Union has acquired Societe d'Epargne Viagere, the French life assurer, and Sinafer, the insurance broker, from Compagnie de Suez for a sum thought to be about £140m.
25-Apr-1997

Royal & Sun Alliance is acquiring the Italian life assurance and pensions business of Prudential for £46m.
11-Apr-1997

First Direct is planning to build a new telephone call centre near Glasgow, which will create 5,000 jobs over the next 7 years.
02-Apr-1997

Prudential has acquired the New Zealand life business of General Accident for £70m.
27-Mar-1997

Prudential Corporation is acquiring Scottish Amicable, the mutual life insurer, for £2.87bn, and will pay policyholders average windfalls of £1,400.
26-Mar-1997

Britannic Assurance is to take on more staff to help sort out problems with pensions mis-selling in order to speed up the review of up to 13,000 cases.
19-Mar-1997

Wellington Underwriting has made an agreed £35m bid for Premium Insurance to create a combined group with over £600m of underwriting capacity.
18-Feb-1997

Royal & Sun Alliance has acquired the non-life insurance business of Bank Argentaria, the Spanish bank, for about £20m.
05-Feb-1997

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette has acquired Phoenix Securities, the merchant bank, for a sum thought to be about £50m.
29-Jan-1997

BAT's Farmers insurance subsidiary in the US has sold three life assurance operations for £202m.
25-Jan-1997

Allied Irish Banks has acquired Dauphin Deposit Corp, the Pennsylvania bank holding company, for £810m.
22-Jan-1997

Matrixx Marketing, the provider of customer care to American Express cardholders in Europe, is creating 150 jobs in Newcastle upon Tyne, many for French and German speakers.
14-Jan-1997