Sainsbury’s sells their banking business to NatWest – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Sainsbury’s has done a deal to sell a chunk of their banking business to NatWest, which comes after the supermarket giant announced January they will focus more on the retail business.

NatWest will acquire £1.1 billion of credit card balances, £1.4 billion of unsecured loans and some £2.6 billion of Sainsbury’s customers deposits.

By March 2025 the deal would have taken place and NatWest will be paid £125 million once the completion of the core assets and liabilities has been completed.

Sainsbury’s is expected to return at least £250 million in excess capital to their shareholders.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Today’s news means we will focus all our time and resources going forward on growing our core retail business.”

Paul Thwaite, NatWest Group chief executive, said: “This transaction is a great opportunity to accelerate the growth of our retail banking business at attractive returns, in line with our strategic priorities.”

“As well as a complementary customer base, the transaction is expected to add scale to our credit card and unsecured personal lending business,” he added.