Metro Bank shareholders have backed a £925million rescue deal that will see a Columbian billionaire take control of the lender.
More than 90 per cent of investors voted to approve the package at a meeting yesterday to safeguard the bank’s future.
It will acquire £150million through an equity raise and £175million from bondholders while also refinancing £600million of debt.
Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal’s Spaldy Investments will inject £102million into the lender, increasing his stake from 9 per cent to 53 per cent.
Metro Bank’s share price jumped 4.9 per cent.
Controlling stake: Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal (pictured) will inject £102m into Metro Bank through his Spaldy Investments vehicle, increasing his stake from 9% to 53%
Meanwhile, reports revealed Metro Bank is in talks with Barclays about selling its £3billion residential mortgage book.
Sky News said an agreement is likely to be struck before the end of the year. Metro Bank and Barclays declined to comment.
The bank has previously said it is exploring a sale of its mortgage book to bolster its balance sheet. A spokesman for Metro Bank welcomed the shareholders’ uphold.
He added: ‘This is testament to their belief and confidence in the future of Metro Bank and proves there is a place in retail and business banking for our model of stores in major towns and cities.’
Gilinksi is based in London and built his £4.2billion fortune through banking and property.
He said last month his investment was driven by a ‘belief in the need for physical and digital banking underpinned by a focus on exceptional customer service’.
Metro Bank signalled it was in trouble in October following a series of blunders in recent years including accounting errors, leadership departures and delayed regulatory approval for key capital relief plans.
It revealed last month that it needed hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its balance sheet and had to refinance £350million of debt within a year.
The bank’s shareholders approved each resolution at yesterday’s general meeting by at least 90 per cent despite losing money in the deal.
The new shares were issued at a significant discount to the stock’s value when the package was announced last month.
Metro Bank bondholders had already approved the funding, which involved some of them losing 40 per cent of their investment.
Metro Bank, which has 2.8m customer accounts and 76 branches, launched in 2010 and positioned itself as a challenger to the High Street banks.
The bank yesterday reiterated its target to open new branches despite most rivals closing sites as customers switch to digital banking.
