Royal Bank of Scotland set to acquire First Active
Ulster Bank parent ,Royal Bank of Scotland look set to acquire First Active.Both Ulster and First Active are strong lenders in The Irish Mortgage market currently offering a series of impressive products including First Active's current account mortgage and Ulster's market leading tracker for mortgages with loan to value of less than 60%. At the moment both will compete on the market in their own right but we would expect one or other brand or indeed a new brand will operate the combined business in 12 to 18 months. It is likely that EBS will also change ownership over the next year or so with the most likely contenders being Rabbo/Acc Bank.Whilst there may be fewer players in the market we believe mortgage holders will be better served by a group of 5 or 6 serious contenders with big pockets.Other developments may see European Banks competing without a Branch Network in a similar fashion to Bnak of Scotland.