Bladewatch.com

The Times

Tesco has emerged as a potential bidder for Northern Rock as the Government races to sell the state-owned lender before a general election, The Times has learnt.

The supermarket chain has shown provisional interest in buying the bank nationalised as the credit crisis brought the financial system within hours of collapse. Virgin, which tried to buy Northern Rock at the time, has expressed renewed interest and private equity funds have made inquiries.

Gordon Brown is keen to prove to voters that his rescue worked. If at all possible, he wants Northern Rock returned to the private sector at a substantial profit. Ministers say that he wants desperately to avoid a Conservative government taking the credit.

It will be interesting to see if this is true and the deal goes ahead, there have been rumours that Tesco was interested in entering the banking sector, buying Northern Rock would give it the branch network and further customers/exposure, we’ll have to see, how the situations develop.

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