The expanded society, which will be called Coventry Building Society, will be based in Coventry. The responsibilities of Stroud & Swindon’s head office will be transferred to Coventry over the next 18 months.
The enlarged society will have a network of 91 branches and agencies. No branches or agencies will be closed as a result of the merger and all Stroud & Swindon branch staff will be retained. There will be no change to In the Loop Mortgages, the intermediary arm of Stroud & Swindon.
Total membership of the new society will increase from over 1.2 million to around 1.5 million, and the overall asset size will increase from £18.4bn to £21.1bn.
Approximately two thirds of Stroud & Swindon’s 251,000 savings accounts will see interest rates improved on completion of the merger to match equivalent products offered by Coventry.
Stroud & Swindon traditional residential mortgage customers who are currently paying, or are linked to, its residential Standard Variable Rate (SVR) of 5.99% will move to Coventry’s lower SVR of 4.74%.
John Sutherland, chief executive of Stroud & Swindon Building Society, said: “In considering a number of options, we believe that Coventry Building Society’s commitment to long term member value, fairness, strategic prudence and local communities, provides Stroud & Swindon members with the best possible future.”
Coventry had assets of £18.4bn at 31 December 2009 and Stroud & Swindon had assets of over £2.7 bn.
Stroud & Swindon Building Society will be asked to vote on the proposed merger on 16 June 2010.
The merger is expected to be effective on 1 September 2010 and is subject to FSA confirmation.
