Tuesday 7th May, 2013

Britain's third largest supermarket group, J Sainsbury has confirmed that it is in advanced talks with Lloyds Banking Group to secure full ownership of Sainsbury's Joint Bank Venture. The statement was prompted by media speculation over the weekend that Sainsbury's was on the verge of buying out Lloyds' 50 percent stake in the bank.

Sainsbury's was the first major British supermarket to open a bank and started trading through the joint venture, in February 1997. Sainsbury's Bank provides a range of products including insurance, credit cards, savings and loans. A Sainsbury's buyout of Lloyds' stake would mirror Tesco's acquisition of RBS's stake in Tesco Personal Finance five years ago. It seems likely that Sainsbury's will announce the buy out when they announce their annual results on Wednesday.