Treasury makes £650m loss after selling Northern Rock to Virgin

The Treasury has sold Northern Rock plc to a consortium led by Richard Branson's Virgin Money for £747m, at a £650m loss on the £1.4bn of capital it injected into the bank.

In a statement, Northern Rock said the government will receive £747m in cash on closing of the sale, expected to completed by the end of the year, with the potential in the future to receive a further £360m to bring the sale to one billion pounds in total. IFAonline understands American investor Wilbur Ross of WL Ross & Co is also part of the purchase consortium. Ross is known for restructuring failed companies. The sale is only for the the savings and mortgages part of the business, not the 'bad bank' investment arm. Virgin Money has committed to no further compulsory redundancies...