Thornhill advised Meridian Banking Group on the proposed sale of its retail banking subsidiary, Northfield Bank, to a listed acquirer, in one of the most significant banking transactions announced in the sector this year. The proposed sale is subject to customary regulatory approvals, including clearance from the relevant prudential and conduct regulators.

Thornhill's M&A team led the legal work on the transaction, working alongside Meridian's investment bank advisers, while the firm's Financial Services Regulation team ran a parallel workstream engaging directly with regulators ahead of signing to help de-risk the approval process. The Competition team also advised on the merger control analysis arising from the combined scale of the two banking groups' operations.

Richard Ashworth said: "Transactions of this scale in a regulated sector require a great deal of upfront planning around the regulatory pathway, well before commercial terms are finalised. We were pleased to support Meridian through that process from the earliest stages."