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.