UK building society Nationwide is set to complete its £2.9bn acquisition of rival Virgin Money on 1 October after the deal was cleared by regulators.
The boards of the two companies confirmed on Friday that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) have approved the acquisition. It follows clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)?in July.
The deal remains subject to court approval, which is expected on 27 September.
Terms of the acquisition were agreed in March. Nationwide will initially retain both brands, but intends to rebrand the Virgin Money business within six years.
Nationwide is UK’s biggest building society with more than 17 million customers, while Virgin Money is the UK’s sixth largest retail bank with around 6.6 million customers.
The combination of the two businesses will create the second biggest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK.
Virgin Money is a FTSE 250 company, dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange.
Following the acquisition Nationwide will remain a building society, owned by its mutual members.
