Co-op Bank buys Sainsbury's mortgage arm for £480m

Sainsbury's stopped offering new mortgages to customers in 2019. Photo: Reuters

Co-op bank closes deal to buy Sainsbury's £480m mortgage business

Sainsbury's Bank will transfer 3,500 customers to its competitor as it officially exits mortgage business the UK market after years of trying.

The sale was announced on Friday, although the transfer will not be completed until next year.

This is Co-op Bank's first portfolio acquisition in over a decade, and it comes after previous reports said the deal was broken down by price.

Sainsbury's stopped offering new mortgages to customers in 2019, just two years after it expanded its product line.

The freeze was part of Sainsbury's overhaul ;s to stop weighing the retail group's profits down.

This is not the first major supermarket to abandon its lending business, as Tesco previously sold its mortgage book to Lloyds Banking Group in 2019, citing «difficult market conditions.”< /p>

Jim Brown, chief executive of Sainsbury's Bank, said: “Closing the chapter on our mortgage offering is a big step towards simplifying our business.”

Formerly Sainsbury& #39;s considered selling its finance division in 2020.

However, a year later, the grocer canceled negotiations with interested parties after it concluded that the proposals were unprofitable for shareholders.