B&B gets 28 percent takeup for rights issue

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That will leave underwriters Citi and UBS to place the remaining stake of just over 70 percent - more than 597 million new shares - by Friday's close, it said on Monday.

B&B, the largest buy-to-let mortgage lender, had offered its shares at 55p each in the twice-restructured, cut-price rights issue. The stock was trading just above that level as subscriptions closed at 11 a.m. on Friday.

Citi and UBS are supported by four major shareholders and six clearing banks that have agreed to back the underwriters - spreading the cost of propping up B&B over 12 institutions.

The retail banks have agreed to take on up to 200 million pounds of the rights issue or as much as 3 percent each of B&B.

That could leave HSBC, Lloyds TSB, HBOS, Barclays, Santander's Abbey and Royal Bank of Scotland with just under 20 percent of the mortgage bank's enlarged share base.

B&B shares fell as low as 31p last month - hit by worries over the bank's future beyond the cash call and the impact of a deteriorating economy on the country's top buy-to-let lender - but have since traded around 55p.

B&B, whose shares have lost over three-quarters of their value since January, follows moves from larger peers Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, who were also forced to turn to shareholders to bolster their balance sheets.

The bank, which said separately that there had been "no material change in the current trading and outlook" since its last update in June, is expected later on Monday to confirm the appointment of former Alliance & Leicester head Richard Pym as its new chief executive.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Toby Chopra)