Business | Economy
Tesco buys RBS out of finance venture for $1.9b
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, announced a major push into banking on Monday with a 950 million pound ($1.9 billion) deal to buy out Royal Bank of Scotland from their finance joint venture.
- Agencies
- Published: 18:44 July 28, 2008
London: Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, announced a major push into banking on Monday with a 950 million pound ($1.9 billion) deal to buy out Royal Bank of Scotland from their finance joint venture.
Tesco said it planned to extend its financial services business to a full-service retail bank. This and other service businesses like telecoms would be capable over time of delivering 1 billion pounds of profits a year, up from just under 400 million now.
It said Benny Higgins, a former executive at RBS and HBOS, will run Tesco Personal Finance (TPF).
Andrew Higginson, the retailer's finance and strategy director, will become chief executive of retailing services and will step down as finance director once a successor is in place.
The deal is a further sign of Tesco's determination to branch out of its core UK grocery market, which it dominates with a market share of about 30 percent.
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