London  - Lloyds Bank in Britain has agreed to a merger deal with the country's biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, creating a banking giant that will dominate the savings and mortgage market, the BBC reported late Wednesday.

The boards of the two banks agreed to the deal after crisis talks in London, at a price of 232 pence per HBOS share, valuing the mortgage lender at 12 billion pounds (21 billion dollars).

The deal was due to be officially announced Thursday.

It was aimed at calming uncertainty over HBOS, which had seen a steep drop in its share price in the turmoil following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers this week. (dpa)