PwC wins £4.8m Bradford & Bingley valuation deal

PricewaterhouseCoopers has won a fixed fee contract of £4.8m to put a price on Bradford & Bingley, the troubled bank bailed out by the Government as the financial crisis ripped through the banking sector.

Valuation chief Peter Clokey and PwC’s financial services valuations division will be paid on an hourly basis for all work undertaken. The Treasury said it would also pay for any expenses incurred from 24 June until the date on which he issues his last assessment notice.

However PwC's fee could top £4.8m if they have to fight legal battles, which the Treasury has made provision for in the contract.

Clokey leads the valuation group within the corporate finance division of PwC. His background is in the investment banking sector and specialises in assignments where the parties require a valuation in the context of a legal process.

The PwC partner said: 'To determine what, if any, compensation is owed I will be gathering and reviewing a significant amount of information about the financial position of the bank in the days and weeks leading up to the end of September last year. I will be following a robust and fair process in what will be a very complex assignment.'

This is the second valuation to be awarded to an accountancy firm after BDO Stoy Hayward won a £4.5m deal to value Northern Rock. The terms of the Northern Rock job have been challenged because it must be valued as if it was already in administration and not a going concern.

Investors believe these constraints will lead to a fairly low price being assigned to the Rock, but there are no such limitations in Bradford & Bingley's terms of reference.

Clokey, added: 'All shares in the bank were transferred into public ownership on 29 September 2008 during a period of extreme financial instability under a transfer order that also modified the rights of bondholders and may have affected others.

'The bank is maintaining a register of the 930,000 former shareholders whose rights were transferred and are now subject to the compensation order, if personal details change then former shareholders should contact the registrar. I will also consider the position of bond and noteholders and it is important that they contact me with their details so that I can keep them updated as my valuation process continues.'

Further details:

Visit www.bandbvaluer.org.uk to can contact Peter Clokey, register to receive updates on his valuation process, and also find links to the registrar, Computershare and other relevant information.