Nationalisation of Northern Rock In October 2008 the chairman Ron Sandler noted that there had been informal talks concerning the idea of the merger with the government, but there had been no subsequent discussion. Sandler did however add "It would not surprise me at some point if a closer look was taken at the method of managing loan books within government-owned banks". In March 2009 Alistair Darling said that he was keeping his options open during the "fast-moving" crisis in the banking industry, and thus not ruling out the possibility of a mortgage book merger between Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. On 24
Nationalisation of Northern Rock renamed it Partnership House. Prior to Nationalisation, the company donated substantial amounts annually to its own charity, the "Northern Rock Foundation". Nationalisation ended the covenant requiring Northern Rock to remit a share of profits to the Foundation. Instead, for the next three years the Foundation will receive an annual £15 million payment from Northern Rock, whether it remains publicly owned or returns to the private sector. The Foundation's shares were cancelled and compensated in the same way as those of other shareholders. Two hedge funds that owned 20% of the bank, SRM Global and RAB Capital, took legal action against