Billionaire Wilbur Ross buys large stake in NBNK Mr Ross, who already has a 45pc holding in Virgin Money, has agreed to buy up to 37.8pc of NBNK at 39p a share in a deal that will inject £8m into the cash shell and allow it to go on a shopping spree for financial services assets. NBNK shares rose 1.5 to 41p - still well below 2010"s £1 float price. "There is huge dislocation in the financial services industry in Europe," Mr Ross said. I think there are a lot of assets that would benefit from being backed into a public market listing . The move triggered speculation that Mr Ross could use NBNK as a vehicle for a reverse takeover of Virgin Money, giving Virgin access to the public markets. However, Mr Ross said the NBNK deal had been done for "very different reasons. Obviously the two companies will be friendly. If at some point it made sense, we would look at it but there are no plans right now. He will take over as NBNK chairman from Lord Levene, with the company's chief executive Garry Hoffman and non-executive director Lord Forsyth also stepping down. Mr Ross is backed by Invesco, which has a 29pc stake in NBNK. Invesco also owns the WL Ross & Co fund. The Takeover Panel has cleared the pair to work "in concert" without having to bid for the whole company - as long as independent investors agree. Unlike Virgin, NBNK will also look at insurance assets and a more diverse selection of bank assets across UK and Europe. "There is no interest to have Virgin do the more exotic stuff that could be done with NBNK," said Mr Ross, calling it a "unique entity." NBNK was set up in 2010 to increase banking competition in the UK. But it failed to win the "Project Verde" auction - the 630 Lloyds Banking Group branches sold to The Co-op.