U.K.’s Co-op Bank Says Talks With Potential Buyer End

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K.’s Co-operative Bank Plc said that an approach from an unidentified bidder to buy the struggling lender had collapsed a month after its disclosure.

Following the end of the talks with a “financial sponsor,” the lender was now focused on returning to “sustainable profitability,” according to a statement by the Manchester-based bank Monday.

Sky News reported last month that Cerberus Capital was the potential buyer of the Co-op Bank, which has been through several restructurings since the discovery eight years ago of a 1.5 billion pound ($2 billion) hole in its balance sheet. This led to the lender’s then owner, the Co-operative Group Ltd., to give up control as part of a deal with a group of hedge funds that took over the business.

In October, the lender appointed its fifth chief executive officer since 2012 after appointing chief financial officer Nick Slape to replace Andrew Bester, who had joined the company in 2018.

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