The boards of OneSavings Bank plc (OSB) and Charter Court Financial Services Group plc have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended merger.
Under the terms of the combination, each Charter Court Shareholder will be entitled to receive 0.8253 new OSB shares for each Charter Court share.
Charter Court Shareholders will own approximately 45% of the share capital of the combined group.
Sir Malcolm Williamson, currently chairman of Charter Court, will assume the chairmanship of the combined group and David Weymouth, currently chairman of OSB, will become the deputy chairman.
Andy Golding and April Talintyre, currently CEO and CFO of OSB respectively, will retain their positions of CEO and CFO respectively in the combined group.
OSB intends that the combined group will maintain its current locations and be headquartered in Chatham.
Weymouth said: “I am very pleased that we are today announcing the combination of OSB and Charter Court, two businesses that have demonstrated remarkable growth and returns in the specialist lending market segment over the last decade.
“The combination will create a leading specialist lender that we believe will benefit from enhanced scale, product offerings and a robust and diversified funding platform. Both businesses bring complementary strengths which we fully expect will position the combined business to continue to deliver for its customers and shareholders.
“The OSB Board and management team have built a strong, customer-focused approach that we believe can develop from strength to strength through the combination with Charter Court and continue to grow the businesses within the fragmented specialist lending segment.”
Sir Malcolm Williamson added: “I am delighted that we are announcing the combination of OSB and Charter Court. The strategic fit of the two banks is compelling and will bring together complementary strengths and capabilities to enhance our customer proposition and create a leading specialist lender that is very well positioned to deliver sustainable returns and take advantage of future growth opportunities.
“Since Charter Court’s foundation in 2008, the Charter Court management team has achieved a tremendous amount in building Charter Court into one of the UK’s leading specialist banks. To now be bringing together the complementary strengths of Charter Court and OSB is a great opportunity and excellent base from which to continue a growth strategy. I am honoured to be asked and look forward to being chairman of the board of the combined group.”