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The supermarket giant is reviving efforts to sell its banking arm’s mortgage book months after a deal with the Co-operative Bank collapsed, Sky News understands.
By Mark Kleinman, City editor @MarkKleinmanSky
Sainsbury’s has revived its efforts to sell a £650m mortgage book months after calling off talks with the Co-operative Bank about a deal.
Sky News understands that the supermarket giant is working with advisers on a sale of the assets, which it decided some time ago were not core to the future of its banking arm.
Sources said potential buyers had been contacted again in recent weeks about the portfolio.
In March, Sky News revealed that Sainsbury’s and the Co-operative Bank had terminated discussions after failing to agree on a price.
A number of other parties, including Starling Bank, had also submitted offers during that process.
The original auction was run by advisers at Deloitte, although it was unclear whether the accountancy firm was working on the latest process.
The sale is being revived at a time of significant disruption in the UK mortgage market, with hundreds of deals being pulled amid expectations of further interest rate rises in the coming months.
If completed, a sale would herald Sainsbury’s Bank’s formal exit from the UK mortgage market after it ceased new lending in 2019.
It continues to offer a range of other financial services.
Retail rival Tesco has been examining a disposal of its own broader banking operation, Sky News revealed earlier this year.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson declined to comment.
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