Northern Rock gets injunction on memo

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Northern Rock Plc NRK.L said on Wednesday it had won an injunction restricting publication of information contained in a memorandum sent to parties interested in acquiring the stricken mortgage bank.

"Further speculative reporting based on the illustrative information in the memorandum may jeopardize the complex discussions and negotiations taking place in connection with its strategic review," Northern Rock said in a statement.

The memo was posted on the Financial Times newspaper's Alphaville Web site on Tuesday.

Northern Rock has effectively been up for sale since it had to apply to the Bank of England for emergency funding on September 14, a move that led to the first run on a British bank in 160 years.

Its shares, which set a record 1,258 pence high earlier this year, closed at 152 pence on Tuesday to value the business at about 640 million pounds.

Advisers have set an informal deadline of Friday for approaches to be made.

The former head of British bank Abbey, veteran troubleshooter Luqman Arnold ,is preparing a move through his investment company Olivant, which would take a minority stake in Northern Rock and put a new team in charge.

Two others to confirm an interest are U.S. buyout firm JC Flowers and a consortium led by Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Wall Street powerhouse Cerberus is also interested, sources familiar with the deal have said.

(Reporting by Dan Lalor; Editing by Andrew Callus)