Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has pulled the plug on talks to sell Lombard Vehicle Management to General Electric (GE) after failing to agree on the price and structure of a deal, according to Sky News.

It suggests RBS could now wind down the car and van leasing business pending the last-minute emergence of another buyer, but industry sources told Fleet News this was not the case.

However, if it’s true that negotiations have broken down, it's the latest in a string of deals which GE has failed to complete.

Last year, they had seemed to be in pole position to takeover Masterlease, before Leasedrive stepped into the frame with a deal funded by Investec.

More recently the company was also seen as a possible suitor for ING Car Lease, which was eventually bought by Alphabet, the fleet management division of BMW Group.

Fleet News first reported that Lombard, number three in the FN50 with a risk fleet of 81,800 vehicles, was up for sale more than a year ago.

Lombard serves a variety of small and large fleets and has been subject to speculation considering RBS’s objective of reducing the size of its balance sheet by selling non-core assets.

RBS declined to comment.


 

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