Between a Northern Rock and a Hard Place

The solution to this crisis depends upon whether any bid for the company is structured in the best interests of the shareholders or merely to get the Bank of England off the hook. Without Bank of England support Northern Rock is bankrupt so clearly the Bank of England and UK Government hold all the cards. Most likely they want a quick solution and don't care about the shareholders so that is why the hedge funds whom bought in recently want to stop the sale process. When British Energy got into a similar situation the Shareholders came out with very little. I see no reason why the same shouldn't happen here.