BUSINESS LIVE: New LV chair eyes Royal London deal; House price growth slows; UK GDP growth to weaken
Newly-appointed interim chair of LV Seamus Creedon has reignited speculation over a possible tie-up with fellow mutual Royal London, confirming that the pair remain in conversations over ‘how we can co-operate to the benefit of both sets of members and the mutual sector’.
A bid from Royal London was previously dismissed in favour of an ultimately unsuccessful takeover bid from private equity group Bain Capital, and the former group cautioned that there can still be ‘no certainty’ that discussions will lead to a transaction.
British house prices last month grew at their slowest pace since June last year, rising by 0.3 per cent from December, mortgage lender Halifax said on Monday.
House prices in January were 9.7 per cent higher than a year earlier, matching December’s annual pace of increase, the lender added.
The cost-of-living crisis and the Omicron variant of Covid-19 will hit UK economic growth this year, according to forecasts.
The EY ITEM Club predicts that gross domestic product will grow by 4.9 per cent in 2022, down from predictions of 5.6 per cent.
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LV’s incoming interim chair Seamus Creedon: ‘We share a common interest with Royal London in a healthy and vibrant mutual sector so that we can both compete fairly with shareholder-owned firms. We have had, and continue to have, discussions with Royal London about if and how we can co-operate to the benefit of both sets of members and the mutual sector.’