Lloyds sells Halifax estate agency for £1
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed the sale of the estate agency it inherited when it bought HBOS for £1, with 460 jobs to be axed.
Gone: The disposal should ease the EU's scrutiny of Lloyds' market dominance
Loss-making Halifax Estate Agencies will be sold to Move owner LSL Property Services with the closure of 121 banking counters within the agency's offices early next year.
Lloyds said the agency, which has 218 offices, was no longer part of its plans, although it added compulsory redundancies among counter staff would be a 'last resort'.
The group, which is 43% owned by the taxpayer, said the vast majority of the counters which are closing were within a mile of a Lloyds TSB or HBOS branch.
Around 1,050 Halifax Estate Agencies staff will transfer over to LSL, which will rebrand the offices as Your Move, Reeds Rain or Intercounty.
It will make ISL the second largest estate agency network in the UK.
ISL chairman Roger Matthews said: 'This is a significant opportunity for LSL to acquire a high quality branch network, an established asset management business and pipeline of sales on favourable commercial terms at a low point in the economic cycle.'
The sell-off could bring benefits to Lloyds in its dealing with the EU over competition rules. Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has been critical of the Lloyds purchase of Halifax Bank of Scotland and the dominant position it now holds following the rushed deal last year.
The EU have hinted that action may be taken to break Lloyds' dominance ion UK High Streets but the bank will hope that the disposal of the estate agency branches will appease the commissions fears.
On the Halifax Estate Agencies job losses, Ged Nichols, general secretary of union Accord, said: 'We will be having early meetings with LSL to discuss their plans for the business and employees' terms and conditions so that we can provide maximum support for Accord members who will be transferring to LSL's employment.
'We have also made our view clear to Lloyds that the staff who currently work in the 121 branches with banking counters should have the opportunity to transfer to nearby bank branches. We believe that there is no need for compulsory redundancies.'
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