Sainsbury’s in talks to offload banking arm

Sainsbury is known more for being Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain, but he grocer also made its first foray into the banking sector in 1997. 

Today, Sainsbury is progressing with talks to offload its banking operations, only under one year after announcing an auction of that arm of its business.

According to reports detailed by Sky News, Sainsbury is close to signing an agreement for the sale of Sainsbury Bank to United States-headquartered private equity firm Centerbridge Partners.

Only a few weeks away from a finalized deal, analysts say that the likelihood of the deal blowing up still exists, though slim. Analysts also speculate that the deal would be worth about £200m.

Sainsbury’s banking arm serves about two million customers, with offerings ranging from housing insurance to credit cards. 

With Centerbridge’s experience and expertise as a long-standing investor in the banking sector and a vast portfolio of companies in Europe and North America, the bank may get the revamp it so desperately needs. 

Centerbridge will leverage this purchase as a doorway to other purchases (0f banking operations) in the United Kingdom. As part of the deal, there is an outright purchase of the business and a licensing deal with the supermarket chain for the use of the Sainsbury brand.