Co-op purchase of 632 Lloyds branches no 'big bang' for legal services
Branches to be branded as TSB next year before fully joining Co-op in 2015
The Co-op has announced this morning that it has agreed terms to buy 632 bank branches from Lloyds, boosting the Co-op's presence in the high street to almost 1,000 branches.
However, a spokesman said the new branches would be rebranded as TSB from next summer, and would only transfer to the Co-op in 2015.
'As part of the process of integration, we will be introducing our products and services into these branches from the end of 2013,' he said.
'This will not happen overnight, and it will be a very gradual process. It is certainly not a big bang approach.'
The spokesman said there was 'no time frame' on the integration of the new branches. He said the key was the IT platform, which would remain a Lloyds TSB platform until 2015.
He added that Co-op's plans for legal services at its current network of 340 branches, including those branded as Britannia, remained unchanged.
Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) was one of the first three organisations to be licensed by the SRA as an ABS in March.
In May the Co-op said it would be creating 3,000 jobs in the legal sector, and over the next five years, CLS, based in Bristol, would open five additional regional hubs across England and Wales and set up a new family law operation in London, launching later this year.
The group said it would be extending its current trial of legal services and funeral planning services through 30 selected branches of The Co-operative Bank and Britannia to all branches.
Peter Marks, group chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said this morning that the deal would deliver 'the biggest shake-up in high street banking in a generation'.
Marks said the acquisition of the new business would 'significantly advance our growth strategy', creating a combined bank with a seven per cent market share of UK personal current account customers.
'That would allow us to really challenge the status quo on the high street,' he said. 'Despite the crisis in the financial sector, our bank has continued to go from strength to strength, coming through the financial crisis in great shape and maintaining our ethical and socially responsible credentials.
'Whilst we are not at the end of the road yet, we are pleased to have reached this important milestone and look forward to continuing to work with Lloyds Banking Group to reach a final agreement.'
Completion of the transaction, expected before the end of November 2013, is conditional on regulatory approvals from the FSA, HM Treasury and the European Commission.