History
Bradford & Bingley Building Society was formed in 1964 as a result of the merger of the Bradford Equitable Building Society and the Bingley Permanent Building Society, both of which were established in 1851.
In May 1997, the Society bought Mortgage Express from Lloyds TSB for £64m.
In December 2000, the Society demutualised and floated on the London Stock Exchange (using the symbol BB.) with former members of the Society each receiving a minimum of 250 shares worth £567.50 at the time, and savers with more savings receiving more shares worth up to £5,000 each.
On 29 September 2008, after a weekend of negotiations, the British government announced that the troubled bank, whose profits were adversely affected by the credit crunch, had been part nationalised and that the Spanish bank Grupo Santander had purchased all of Bradford & Bingley's £20 billion savings business.
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