Rumours have been circulating that a takeover offer from Citigroup could be imminent, reflected in the sharp rise in Barclays’ shares last week. Barclays, which owns The Woolwich, saw its shares rise by as much as 11 per cent.
Kevin Paterson, director of Park Row Group, said: “Citigroup couldn’t make any more of a mess of The Woolwich than Barclays has. The Woolwich has some good products and would fit in well with the Citigroup structure.”
Kevin Morgan, managing director of Consilium Financial Planning, said: “Citigroup has been trying to get a foothold in the market to acquire an instant market share. If it is looking to concentrate on the retail side, it would no doubt want to keep hold of The Woolwich and push for it to have a greater presence.”
But Morgan added that the rumoured acquisition could also spell uncertainty for The Woolwich and Future Mortgages, owned by Citigroup. “These types of deals always creates a level of instability for the subsidiary companies,” he added. “Depending on what Citigroup’s motivation for possibly buying Barclays is, it may feel that it needs to sell off The Woolwich or Future or both if they don’t fit in with the parent company’s future plans.”
Barclays announced a 23 per cent rise in profits to £2.41 billion for the first six months of this year.
Citigroup, Barclays, Future and The Woolwich all declined to comment.
