FIRST National Bank has paid £12.2million to acquire NatWest's 50% stake in PSA Finance, which provides point-of-sale finance to Peugeot and Citroen dealers in the UK. The finance house subsidiary of Abbey National acquired an option to buy the 50% shareholding last year as part of its purchase of Lombard Motor Finance (now renamed First National Motor Finance).

The acquisition has now gone ahead, leading to the announcement of a joint venture between First National and PSA Wholesale, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peugeot PSA. Rene Steffan, managing director of PSA Finance, said: 'First National has demonstrated its commitment to the motor finance market through its recent investment programme and, together, we can continue to grow PSA Finance into the leading captive motor finance company in the UK.'

PSA Finance accounts for about 30% of the point of sale finance sold in both Peugeot and Citroen dealers, a business worth about £700million a year.