TPG ends plan to invest in British bank Bradford & Bingley

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — Bradford & Bingley said on Friday that US investment group TPG Capital had pulled out of an agreement to buy about one quarter of the struggling British bank.

B&B had agreed earlier this month to sell a 23-percent stake to TPG Capital for 179 million pounds (226 million euros, 355 million dollars) as the British provider of home loans seeks fresh funds.

The U-turn by TPG, made because Moody's had downgraded its credit rating on B&B, is the second blow for Bradford & Bingley in a week after British investment group Resolution abandoned its funding plan on June 27.

B&B last month announced plans to raise 400 million pounds after suffering from a property market slowdown in Britain amid the global squeeze on credit. On Friday the British bank...