Virgin’s bid for Rock goes to second round

VIRGIN Money will submit a second round bid for nationalised bank Northern Rock today, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, who is a major shareholder in Virgin Money, said yesterday in an interview.

By The Newsroom

Published 25th Oct 2011, 11:01 BST

In July, Virgin Money first submitted an expression of interest in Northern Rock.

“We are big investors in Virgin Money, Richard Branson’s company, and we are backing Virgin in their bid for Northern Rock,” Mr Ross, the chairman and chief executive of WL Ross said during a trip to Tokyo.

“We are actually putting in the bids tomorrow. Tomorrow European time.”

Northern Rock was fully nationalised three years ago after nearly collapsing during the credit crunch. Chancellor George Osborne said in June that he aimed to find a buyer for it this year. Mr Ross also said he was interested in boosting his investments in Japanese private equities.

“We have altogether about $10bn (£6.27bn) of private equity, and so if we were to put 10 per cent of that in Japan it would not be a surprise,” Mr Ross said after speaking at an event for the Japan Society, of which he is chairman.

Virgin Money Richard Branson