Midshires buys Western Trust

Midshires buys Western Trust

Birmingham Midshires, the UK's 13th-largest building society, has bought Western Trust Holdings of Plymouth, which includes a pounds 380m mortgage book and a retail bank.

The society refused to say what price it paid to the previous owners, Manulife Financial, a giant Canadian life assurance company. It did say, however, that it had paid "a premium in line with market rates". The purchase boosts Birmingham Midshires' mortgage book to pounds 5.5bn, and adds 8,000 savers and 9,000 borrowers. The society says no redundancies are planned for Western Trust's 210-strong workforce.