Nationwide & Portman to Merge!!!

ReportInvestor

Now there's a question.

I think the answer will probably be that if you were a non-signaway member at the Portman you will become a non-signaway member at Nationwide.

It's complicated by the fact that the Nationwide signway is for life.

So where does it leave someone who is only 3 years through their 5 year signaway "term" at Portman?

Or someone that has signed away their windfall at Nationwide in perpetuity, but is a Portman non-signaway member.

Interesting . Lots of dosh for the lawyers to sort that lot out .

Speculator

For signaway members of nationwide, there is probably no point in keeping their account open. In the event of of a merger, they will always be the bigger partner so no windfall for its members. In the event of demutualisation/takeover, the signaway members will see their share given to charity bearing in mind they have signed away for life.

Milarky

laughing_cow wrote:

If I have full membership rights with the Portman, will that membership become a full membership of the Nationwide? (and thus be eligible to receive any future payouts if the Nationwide goes for DM). Or will Portman members only become 'signaway' members of the Nationwide?

ta muchly.

This is a very good question. 'Don't know' is the answer. But of course look what happened at Standard Life a few months back - 'signaway' clauses were dropped abruptly so that members with less than 3 years (who had votes, remember) would back DM because they would also benefit. DM votes require 75%. So when the Board decides to dump mutuality it would most likely (on past form and practicalities) do exactly the same. In other words, anyone could probably come along and open a NW account now - and would be rewarded some years down the line to more or less the same extent as anyone holding an account (etc) since birth. That's the good news. The bad news is there are now 11 million NW members (how many signaways I don't know) but when I last remember looking it was something like '7 million'. The Portman will add another 2 million! The money from any DM is becoming increasingly spread - not least because NW wants that. It will make defending mutuality even easier than it was already.

[BTW is there any truth in the rumour that NW members actually voted narrowly for DM in the ballot in 1998, but that that was reversed only by the Chairman casting his proxy in sufficient votes for the Board? I know that a '51/49' victory for DM is techincally invalid, but if true that would finished off the personalities on the Board of NW opposed to DM at the time - remember Ian Lumsden at Standard Life anybody? - and in 1999 we could have had a different outcome?]

lipidicman

SO, we have had our Portman ISAs for a few years and 'signedaway' our demutualisation rights. Do we qualify for this payout as it is not a demutualisation but a virtual takeover?

Milarky

lipidicman wrote:

SO, we have had our Portman ISAs for a few years and 'signedaway' our demutualisation rights. Do we qualify for this payout as it is not a demutualisation but a virtual takeover?

It depends on the numbers required to approve a Portman Merger - I assume thats also 75 percent. In either case (if you were subject to signaway) it depends on the discretion of the Board. I would guess that you would get a payment regardless of that status.

KTF

lipidicman wrote:

SO, we have had our Portman ISAs for a few years and 'signedaway' our demutualisation rights. Do we qualify for this payout as it is not a demutualisation but a virtual takeover?

It says in the Portman FAQ (Page 3) that the signing away only applies if it was bought by a PLC. As the Nationwide is not a PLC the sign away rights do not apply.

http://www.portman.co.uk/questions.pdf

tintoys

As it says Lambeth members will qualify, if you already hold an account with the Portman would they lump the accounts together? Is there any likelihood anf any extra payouit based on amount invested?

laughing_cow

ReportInvestor wrote:

I think the answer will probably be that if you were a non-signaway member at the Portman you will become a non-signaway member at Nationwide.

Oh, I hope so! At least if that happens I can dump my signaway NW account (which I kept 'just in case' of unlikely happenings) and put the £100 to far better use. :beer:

mystic_trev

I have "full membership" of Portman but signaway with the NW. I assume I will now qualify for "full membership" of the NW i.e. It being a merger not a takeover.

cheggers

£200 windfall is not bad, I had the afternoon of work to open my account back in 1998.

Thought Portman was more likely to be taking over other societies than being taken over itself.

Anyone got any feelings about which other socieities may go, go a few of the top 20 societies