LONDON - Lloyds TSB PLC on Thursday announced a $21.85-billion deal to take over struggling HBOS PLC, Britain's largest mortgage lender.

The government said it would facilitate the deal by overriding anti-monopoly regulations.

Lloyds said each HBOS shareholder will receive 0.83 shares in Lloyds. Existing Lloyds shareholders will hold 56 percent of the combined company.

The takeover follows days of heavy selling pressure on HBOS shares, which closed Wednesday down 20 percent at $2.68, a fifth of their value at the start of the year.

The takeover valuation is based on Lloyds' closing share price of $5.01 on Wednesday.

Lloyds said the deal should save the combined companies $1.8 billion a year by 2011, and that management's focus will be on preserving jobs in Scotland, where Lloyds is based.

John Hutton, the business and enterprise secretary, said he would present an order in Parliament to extend an exemption on public interest grounds to allow the giant combination.

The combined companies will account for more than a quarter of the British mortgage market and $715 billion in savings deposits.

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