Bain Capital Credit – the firm that helped bankroll Virgin Australia’s private equity buyout last year – has another Australian transport exposed business in its sights.
US private equity giants JC Flowers and Bain Capital Credit have become shareholders in the Co-operative Bank
Two US private equity giants have become major shareholders in the UK’s Co-operative Bank, amid speculation that they could lead a consolidation of the UK’s mid-sized banks.
JC Flowers and Bain Capital Credit have bought an approximately 10 per cent stake in from Blue Mountain Capital, a hedge fund.
The deal’s value was not revealed. Although never actually run as a co-op, the bank in the early 2010s found a £1.5billion hole in its finances, which led to the Co-operative Group selling 80 per cent of its stake to US hedge funds in 2014.
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Private equity pair Bain Capital and JC Flowers have agreed to buy a minority stake in the UK’s Co-operative Bank
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The Bank also reported a mortgage pipeline going into the second quarter of 2021 of £2bn.
Nick Slape, Co-operative Bank chief executive, said: “I am encouraged by the Bank’s financial performance in the first quarter, achieving a small underlying profit – an important first step towards sustainable profitability from 2021.
“We have delivered a resilient performance by maintaining our focus on income generation, simplification and by reducing our operating costs.
“Our retail business continues to grow, with net residential lending increasing by 6% in the quarter with a strong pipeline.”
The results also revealed that investment firms JC Flowers and Bain Capital Credit had bought stakes in the Bank subject to regulatory approval.
J.C. Flowers and Bain Back The Co-operative Bank
J.C. Flowers & Co.and
Bain Capital Credit has agreed to purchase shares of The Co-operative Bank plc, resulting in a change in the shareholders of its ultimate holding company,
The Co-operative Bank Holdings Limited, currently held by
BlueMountain. The acquisition would see J.C. Flowers & Co. and Bain Capital Credit become significant investors in the bank alongside its five other existing financial sponsor investors.
Nick Slape, chief executive officer of the Co-operative Bank, commented, “We are delighted to welcome J.C. Flowers & Co and Bain Capital Credit and we are pleased that they share our positive view of the future possibilities for our bank. As our recent results show, we are on track with our transformation and the business continues to perform resiliently as we focus on supporting our customers during these challenging times. We head into the next stage of our transformation with growth in mortgage lending, a r