Metro Bank opens sale process, offering investor potential £420m gain

Metro Bank put itself up for sale on Thursday, November 12, three years after a rescue that helped avert its collapse. The move could allow Colombian billionaire investor Jaime Gilinski Bacal to exit with a potential £420m gain, according to the Guardian.

Shares climbed 7% by mid-morning following the announcement, giving the British lender a market value of about £1.3bn, the newspaper reported. That valuation reflects stock market trading rather than an agreed takeover price, and any investor payout would depend on the terms of a completed transaction.

The bank announced a formal sale process within a wider review of its strategic options. It said it had received no approach from a prospective buyer and was not holding active discussions with any potential bidder, making the announcement an invitation for interest rather than confirmation of a deal.

Gilinski Bacal became Metro Bank’s controlling shareholder through his investment company, Spaldy Investments, as part of the 2023 recapitalisation. The rescue gave him a central role in the lender’s recovery and now makes him a key shareholder in any prospective change of ownership.

Under the rescue terms announced in 2023, Spaldy committed £102m to an equity fundraising priced at 30p a share. The transaction was designed to leave the investment company with approximately 53% of Metro Bank, according to the lender’s announcement at the time.

The broader £925m financing package comprised £150m of new equity, £175m of new eligible debt and £600m of debt refinancing. Those components are important to distinguishing the overall rescue from the amount invested by shareholders: the package combined fresh funding with the restructuring of existing financing.

For shareholders, the sale process presents a possible route to realising value after the bank’s recovery from its near-collapse. However, the reported potential gain for Gilinski Bacal remains conditional: opening a process does not establish either a buyer’s willingness to bid or the price it might pay.

Metro Bank has appointed Morgan Stanley to lead the search for interested parties. Under arrangements agreed with the Takeover Panel, participants can remain confidential and will not face the usual 28-day deadline for announcing a firm offer while they remain in the process.

Interested parties will have to sign confidentiality and standstill agreements before receiving business information and submitting proposals. The board retains the right to reject approaches or end the process, and said the bank would continue its existing strategy if no transaction results. Further announcements, including on timing, will follow as appropriate.