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The board of Metro Bank rejected a secret takeover approach last month from a rival British lender, just days before its share price crashed when it emerged that it was seeking hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its finances.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Shawbrook has tabled several bid proposals to Metro Bank, including one that was lodged as recently as the second half of September.

News of the approaches comes hours before a group of Metro Bank bondholders are expected to meet with the company’s bosses for talks about a financing package totalling more than £500m.

The objective of the talks is to agree a deal before the London stock market opens on Monday morning, according to insiders.

Analysts believe that Metro Bank will need to explore a sale of the company in case alternative proposals, such as a bondholder-led refinancing or a standalone capital-raising, were to fail.

This weekend, City sources said that Shawbrook’s recent overtures had been rebuffed by the high street retail bank.

It was unclear whether any live discussions were ongoing between the two companies, while the valuation of Shawbrook’s offers could not be established.

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The proposals were not disclosed to the stock market by Metro Bank’s board.

The emergence of a credible buyer may raise questions about its directors’ decision not to engage in constructive talks given the company’s need to strengthen its balance sheet.

Shawbrook is also among a small number of banks vying to buy the Co-operative Bank, which is up for sale.

A Metro Bank spokeswoman declined to comment on the approaches from Shawbrook, which also declined to comment.

The so-called challenger bank endured a torrid week, with its share price crashing nearly 30% on Thursday in the wake of a Sky News report that it is working with investment bankers on asset disposals, the sale of new shares and the refinancing of a £350m bond due next year.

On Friday, the stock rallied 20% to close at 45.25p, giving it a market capitalisation of less than £80m.

Metro Bank, which is being advised by Morgan Stanley, Moelis and Royal Bank of Canada, has been planning to raise at least £100m from a share sale, although the viability of that plan is doubtful given the scale of its share price collapse.

At one point in 2018, the lender – which promised to revolutionise retail banking when it opened its first branch in London in 2010 – had a market capitalisation of £3.5bn.

Further details of the proposals from bondholders, who are being advised by PJT Partners, were unclear on Saturday.

One source described the situation as “fluid” but confirmed that talks were scheduled to take place on Saturday, potentially lasting all weekend.

Shawbrook’s most recent approach to Metro Bank is said to have come more than a week after the latter disclosed to the stock market that Britain’s banking regulator had rejected its application to switch to a capital-light model that would have provided significant balance sheet headroom.

Its shares halved in the weeks following that announcement, prompting Mr Sharpe and Dan Frumkin, chief executive, to draw up a new capital-raising plan.

On Thursday, Sky News revealed that Metro Bank had approached high street rivals including Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group about selling a £3bn chunk of its mortgage book.

Metro Bank became the first new lender to open on Britain’s high streets in over 100 years when it launched in 2010, soon after the last financial crisis.

It has 2.7m customer accounts, making it one of the ten largest banks in Britain, and offers current accounts, business accounts, personal loans and insurance products.

The company employs about 4,000 people, operating from about 75 branches across the country.

Banking regulators and the Treasury are closely monitoring Metro Bank’s capital-raising plans for any sign of increased deposit withdrawals.

Rumours have circulated for years about its finances.

In 2019, customers formed sizeable queues at some of its branches after suggestions circulated on social media that it was in financial distress.

Days later, it unveiled a £350m share placing in a move designed to allay such concerns.

Metro Bank has had a chequered history with City regulators, despite its relatively brief existence.

Last December, it was fined £10m by the Financial Conduct Authority for publishing incorrect information to investors, while the PRA slapped it with a £5.4m penalty for similar infringements a year earlier.

The lender was founded in 2009 by Anthony Thompson, a financial services entrepreneur, and Vernon Hill, an American who eventually left in controversial circumstances in 2019.

Metro Bank has been forced to sell assets in the past, announcing a deal in December 2020 to sell a portfolio of owner-occupied residential mortgages to NatWest Group for up to £3.1bn.

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Harrods customers’ details stolen in IT systems breach

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Harrods customers' details stolen in IT systems breach

Harrods has warned its e-commerce customers that their personal data may have been taken in an IT systems breach.

Information like customers’ names and contact details was taken after one of Harrods’ third-party provider systems was compromised, the luxury London department store said.

Affected customers have been informed and reassured that the impacted data is “limited to basic personal identifiers”, a spokesperson said.

Account passwords or payment details were not affected in the breach.

“The third party has confirmed this is an isolated incident which has been contained, and we are working closely with them to ensure that all appropriate actions are being taken. We have notified all relevant authorities,” Harrods added.

“No Harrods system has been compromised and it is important to note that the data was taken from a third-party provider.”

This comes four months after the department store restricted internet access as a precautionary measure due to “attempts to gain unauthorised access” to some of its systems.

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Friday’s breach is “unconnected” to the attempts in May, the spokesman said.

Two men aged 19, a 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman were arrested in July over their suspected involvement in cyber attacks on Harrods, Marks & Spencer, and the Co-op.

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They were arrested on suspicion of blackmail, money laundering, offences linked ot the Computer Misuse Act, and participating in the activities of an organised crime group, the National Crime Agency said.

All four have been bailed pending further inquiries.

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Nursery hackers: ‘There’s more to come’

It comes as hackers claim to have stolen pictures, names and addresses of thousands of children in a cyber attack on a nursery chain in London.

The group, calling itself Radiant, has released personal information about children and staff at the Kido nursery chain on the dark web and demanded a ransom from the company.

Radiant told Sky News on Friday it intends to imminently release the profiles of more children and employees.

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Trump trade war expands to cover many drugs, trucks and furniture

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Trump trade war expands to cover many drugs, trucks and furniture

Donald Trump has revealed a fresh round of trade tariffs on several key sectors, with the most punitive rate likely to affect UK businesses.

The US president used his Truth Social account last night to confirm that a new 100% tariff would apply to any branded or patented pharmaceutical product from 1 October.

He said that to escape the clutches of that duty, a company must have already broken ground on a new US factory.

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From the same date, a 50% tariff would be applied to all imported kitchen and bathroom cabinets while upholstered furniture faced a 30% rate.

A 25% tariff faced shipments of heavy trucks.

The president did not confirm whether the duties would be lower for nations to have agreed trade deals with his administration, including the UK and European Union.

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Each faces a blanket 10% and 15% rate on their exports respectively at the moment.

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What does UK-US trade deal involve?

It is likely, however, that the new duties will be applied in line with other, higher, sectoral tariffs that are currently in place above those agreed rates.

“The reason for this is the large scale “FLOODING” of these products into the United States by other outside Countries,” Trump said in his post.

The lack of detail around the application of the planned new tariff rules means further uncertainty for companies potentially affected.

Shares in pharmaceutical firms listed in Asia fell sharply overnight as industry bodies rushed to seek clarification on the new rules.

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AstraZeneca – the UK’s most valuable listed company – already has vast US manufacturing and research operations.

In July, as the threat of tariffs loomed large, it revealed plans for a further $50bn investment by 2030.

US figures show the country imported $233bn of drugs and medicines from abroad last year.

A 100% tariff rate, even on some of those shipments, risk ramping up the cost of US healthcare.

By imposing the 100% tariff rate, Mr Trump wants to bring prices down through encouraging domestic production.

US industry groups lined up to oppose the planned measures.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said non-US companies were continuing to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in new US. investments. “Tariffs risk those plans,” it said.

The US Chamber of Commerce urged a U-turn on any truck tariffs.

It said the five nations to be worst affected – Mexico, Canada, Japan, Germany, and Finland – were “allies or close partners of the United States posing no threat to US national security.”.

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Many small firms reliant on Jaguar Land Rover have ‘weeks left’ before damage ‘untenable’

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Many small firms reliant on Jaguar Land Rover have 'weeks left' before damage 'untenable'

Small firms reliant on the production-halted British car maker Jaguar Land Rover, “may have at best a week of cashflow left to support themselves” with “urgent” action needed to support businesses.

Liam Byrne, the head of the influential Business and Trade Committee of MPs, wrote to Chancellor Rachel Reeves with the warning after meeting with the car maker’s suppliers.

“Larger firms, we heard, may begin to seriously struggle within a fortnight – and many are simply unclear how they will pay payroll costs at the end of October,” he said

“In short, many firms have merely “weeks left” before the financial impact on them becomes untenable and causes critical damage to key elements of the automotive supply chain.”

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Since 31 August, production has been halted across the car-making supply chain, with staff off work as a result of the attack.

More than 33,000 people work directly for JLR in the UK, many of them on assembly lines in the West Midlands, the largest of which is in Solihull, and a plant at Halewood on Merseyside.

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An estimated 200,000 more are employed by several hundred companies in the supply chain, who have faced business interruption with their largest client out of action.

Calls for government financial support had been growing, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday afternoon said, “I haven’t got an outcome here to give to you today”.

A partial restart

It comes as JLR announced some of its IT systems are back online after being hit by a cyber attack late last month though production is still not expected to start again until 1 October at the earliest.

“The foundational work of our recovery programme is firmly underway,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

As part of the partial restart, supplier payments can begin again.

“We have significantly increased IT processing capacity for invoicing,” the statement said. “We are now working to clear the backlog of payments to our suppliers as quickly as we can.”

The supply of parts to customers across the world can also now recommence.

After a workaround was reached on Tuesday to allow cars to move to buyers without the usual online registration, the financial system to process wholesale vehicles is back online.

“We are able to sell and register vehicles for our clients faster, delivering important cash flow”, the company said.

“Our focus remains on supporting our customers, suppliers, colleagues and our retailers. We fully recognise this is a difficult time for all connected with JLR and we thank everyone for their continued support and patience.”

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