Metro Bank up for sale, with billionaire investor in line for £420m windfall

Shares up 7% after announcement as Jaime Gilinski Bacal seeks exit three years after helping to rescue bank

Metro Bank is putting itself up for sale three years after its near-collapse, in a move that could hand a £420m windfall to its Colombian billionaire investor, Jaime Gilinski Bacal.

Metro Bank made the rare decision to publicly announce it was open to bids on Thursday, paving the way for a wider pool of suitors. The announcement pushed the share price up by 7% by mid-morning, valuing the bank at around £1.3bn.