Close Brothers Close - no cigar

The collapse of the auction for Close Brothers, the UK investment bank, may cause big tremors for a smallish deal. A month ago a joint £1.5bn bid from Cenkos, its smaller rival, and Iceland’s Landsbanki collapsed. Now its three other bidders have walked away too. That may be sign of wider market problems rather than local difficulties. The immediate victims are Close’s investors. The bank’s stock fell 12% on the news, leaving it 32% below its price in mid-January when hopes of a juicy takeover ...