Sainsbury’s rebuffs offer for £162m-loss-making bank

Sainsbury’s has decided against selling off a loss-making bank after haggling with the potential buyer for almost a year.

The bank, which made a £162 million loss and saw customer numbers drop 14 per cent last year, was expected to be sold to private equity firm Centerbridge Partners.

It is unclear whether it was this £200 million offer, or that of another suitor, that the supermarket rebuffed.

The Sainsbury’s Board announced that the “expressions of interest” did not offer a good return for investors.

READ MORE: Sainsbury’s rubbishes rumours of Brexit store closures

“These do not offer better value for shareholders than will be realised through retaining Sainsbury’s Bank,” it said.

It comes at a time of turmoil for supermarket banks, as retailers try to tighten their balance sheet by phasing them out.

Tesco announced in July that it would close all current accounts in November.

The bank, which plunged to a £175 million loss last year, was recently ranked bottom in a survey by the competition watchdog.

Marks & Spencer closed 29 bank branches in July and scrapped current accounts in August.

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