A vocal rump of disaffected members at the Bristol & West building society this week bravely defended the barricades at a special meeting to vote on the £600 million takeover terms from the Bank of Ireland. The "arranged marriage" was first mooted last January with cloak and dagger negotiators, with a touch of John Le Carre, using the code names "Eagle" for the bank and "Cider" for the building society. While the banking eagle convincingly won the day, the combative cider faction went down fighting.
Opponents argued that the bid undervalued the society and that the return to members was poor, with little done to attract higher offers. Even the pedigree of the mighty Bank of Ireland was questioned. One elderly member said she had never heard of the bank before the bid was mooted and had difficulty in discovering the location of its headquarters.
She objected to selling off valued mutuality to a plc which "could itself be taken over by someone else after we join it". Despite receiving "580 tonnes of paper" promoting the deal, she still felt her nestegg was better protected under mutuality. "I don't want my money thrown into the maelstrom of the market."
Opposition, though valiant, proved futile. The three and a half hour meeting ended with the 96 per cent of members who voted approving the deal.
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