Metro Bank shares slumps as buyout talks with US private equity firm Carlyle break down
Metro Bank stock fell 19.6% after US private equity suitor Carlyle walked away from talks
Shares in Metro Bank tumbled after US private equity suitor Carlyle walked away from takeover talks.
The stock fell 19.6 per cent, or 25.9p, to 106.4p to leave the High Street lender worth just £183.5million.
Metro, which has more than 2m customer accounts, said it continues to ‘strongly believe in the standalone strategy and future prospects’ of the group. Carlyle is now bound by strict City takeover code rules for the next six months.
The private equity giant’s decision to pull out of discussions comes ahead of a deadline of 5pm on December 2 for it to either place a firm bid for Metro Bank or walk away from a deal.
Metro had seen its shares soar earlier this month when it confirmed an approach from Carlyle.
Liberum analyst Shailesh Raikundlia said: ‘We continue to believe that the business model is challenged and expect [Metro] to be loss-making throughout our forecast period’.