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Virgin Reduces Northern Rock Bid as Olivant Drops Out

Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Group Ltd. submitted a reduced 1.25 billion-pound ($2.5 billion) plan to take over Northern Rock Plc after Luqman Arnold’s Olivant Advisers Ltd. dropped out of the contest.Virgin and its backers would invest 500 million pounds in Northern Rock and raise another 500 million pounds in a share sale, London-based Virgin said in a statement today. Virgin plans to fold its banking unit, which it values at 250 million pounds, into Northern Rock and rename the company Virgin Bank. Its previous offer for Northern Rock was 1.55 billion pounds.

“We have made a proposal that seeks to stabilize the company and rebuild it as a trusted and thriving institution under the Virgin brand with a long-term future,” Virgin Bank Chairman Brian Pitman said in the statement

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