Shares in Lloyds TSB have firmed up on weekend reports that UK ATM network operator Link has emerged as the frontrunner to buy the bank's share registration arm.
Link, backed by US buy-out firm Bain Capital, is leading a short list of about four trade and private-equity suitors for Lloyds TSB Registrars, according to this
report in the Sunday Times. Others in the running are understood to include Duke Street Capital, Warburg Pincus and Silverlake.
Lloyds TSB Registrars acts as registrar for more than 800 companies, including 60% of FTSE 100 companies. The business is valued at about £600 million.
Link, which runs a large proportion of Britain’s 60,000 cash machines, is currently working on a major merger with UK payments processor Voca.
Am I missing something here? It's a Monday morning - and I may be being a bit slow on the uptake - but the synergies between Lloyds TSB Registrars and VocaLink are not that obvious.