Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has apparently given up on its effort to sell its credit card business in the UK and Ireland, which is operated under the MBNA Europe name. MBNA Europe operates a joint venture with Virgin Money, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin empire.
BofA had been discussing a deal involving Spain’s Banco Santander SA (NYSE: STD), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), and Apollo Capital Management Ltd. (NYSE: APO). BofA announced that it would sell its European business last August, and claimed $19 billion in MBNA’s loan portfolio at the time. The bank also said, at that time, “an international consumer card business under another brand is not consistent” with the company’s strategic direction.
Most likely, the potential buyer group simply did not want to pay BofA’s price. It’s also possible, of course, that since last summer the bank has figured out a way to make money on the cards.
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