Lloyds TSB is to sell the Goldfish credit card business to Morgan Stanley for £1 billion, representing a premium of £175 million.
The UK high street bank says it expects to recognise a profit of £70 million from the sale.
Terri Dial, the recently-installed group executive director of Lloyds TSB retail bank says the bank decided to offload Goldfish in order to focus on its own branded credit and debit card business.
"As customers increasingly use credit and debit cards as tools to help them manage their cash flow, we believe there are substantial growth opportunities," says Dial. She adds that "the vast majority of Goldfish staff will transfer to Morgan Stanley".
As at 30 November 2005, Goldfish’s total net credit card receivables amounted to approximately £800 million.
Morgan Stanley says the acquisition brings about 800,000 new credit card customers, boosting its UK customer base by 47%.