Close Bros buys Dunbar's £300m deposit book

21st Feb 2011 14:12

Merchant bank Close Brothers has bought the retail structured term deposit book of Dunbar Bank, pert of the Zurich Financial Services Group, for a premium of £1.5m.It will take on about £300m of deposits, get four extra staff and a licence to use the information technology systems that support the business. The deal is expected to complete by the end of the current financial year."The deposits are an attractive source of term funding for Close Brothers," the firm said. "Given the likely timing of completion, the acquisition is expected to be broadly earnings neutral in the year ended 31 July 2011 but to have a small, positive impact on the group's earnings during the financial year ended 31 July 2012."