Barclays and B&B put talks on ice

SPECULATION is mounting that specialist financial services group Bradford & Bingley is ready to put itself up for sale.

City sources say B&B, led by chief executive Christopher Rodrigues, has been talking to Barclays boss Matt Barrett for several weeks, and that an offer of 400p a share, valuing the former building society at £2.7bn, was under consideration.

The pair were said to be close to a 'done deal,' but the talks are now on ice because of stock market turmoil.

Former building society B&B floated on the stockmarket in 2000, and has statutory protection from takeover until the end of 2005. But Rodrigues has made clear that he would not use the statutory protection as a shield to block attractive offers. A spokesman refused to comment on the rumours of recent discussions but said: 'We are not in talks today.' Barclays refused to comment.

B&B has an army of 1.3m small shareholders (I am one) who received windfalls in its float. They have seen their shares, which ticked up 3p on Friday to close last week at 303p, strongly outperform the banking sector over the past month.

The group would be a catch for Barclays, which already owns former building society the Woolwich. B&B, which owns the Charcol mortgage broking business, is now the country's biggest independent financial adviser and fourth-largest estate agent. Even if a deal with Barclays comes to naught, B&B is increasingly seen as having put itself in play. Other potential bidders include Royal Bank of Scotland, National Australia Bank and Alliance & Leicester.

Separately, US credit card company MBNA is preparing to buy A&L's credit card business. A&L confirmed last week that it is close to a deal on its 1.3m cards. MBNA is believed to have offered up to £90m. The deal is subject to approval by the regulators.