White & Case represented Lloyds TSB on its entry into the UK electricity and gas market through an agreement with Scottish Power which enables the bank to supply gas and electricity to its customers. This is the first time a High Street bank has branched out into UK utilities.
White & Case supplied both legal and commercial negotiating support to Lloyds TSB and developed the unique structure which will have significant impact on the way similar agreements are created in the future.
The debut of Lloyds TSB on the UK energy market is likely to pave the way for other personal finance institutions to expand into the utilities market.
The new service will be called Ideal from Lloyds TSB and is expected to offer the average customer an 18 percent saving on their annual energy bills. The benefits to customers include having one monthly bill with all their chosen services combined and paid for by direct debit.
“This is an extremely exciting development in the UK utilities market and has raised the game for the traditional energy suppliers,” explained Lead Partner Neil Upton of White & Case in London. “The arrival of a new player on the scene will definitely upset the existing energy market status quo. It’s likely also that other banks will see the benefits of utilising their existing customer relationships to move into other service markets so we may well see this as the start of a trend.”
Darryn Melrose, who headed the projects team at Lloyds TSB said, “we simply could not have done it without Neil and his team — in order to achieve the result we wanted they developed one of the most novel energy structurings ever to happen in the UK. The significance of this deal and the way it was structured is immensely important for national brands.”
The other members of the White & Case team for Lloyds TSB were counsel John Runeckles, and associates David Baker, Richard Todd and Jason Yardley.
