Abbey National CEO Luqman Arnold is selling the UK mortgage bank for only a small premium to its share price. Yet he has said that the decline in Abbey’s performance will end this year. So why choose now to recommend a deal with Spain’s Santander Central Hispano?
The fact is that Arnold has been cornered.
He cannot easily demonstrate that Abbey is worth more today than the 560p a share that Santander is offering. And given Abbey’s history of rejecting bids, or letting them slip through its fingers, he daren’t turn Santander away in the hope of selling for more later.
Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!
To unlock this article:
