Virgin Money will become a full-fledged UK bank for the first time by buying Northern Rock from the UK government for £747 million (A$1172 million).The sale re-privatises a bank which the UK government bought in 2007 to prevent its collapse. It was one of the early markers of the global financial crisis. The deal gives Virgin 75 new branches, one million additional  customers and, for the first time, a mortgage business: Northern Rock has £14 billion (A$21.2 billion) in mortgages.Until now, Virgin's chief offerings have been credit cards and savings accounts.All the Northern Rock branches will take on Virgin Money branding.Virgin Money CEO Jayne-Anne Gadhia said Virgin would look to take market share from the UK's five largest retail banks, the Wall Street Journal reported.The UK government will take a loss on the bare finances of the deal; it injected around £1.4 billion (A$2.12 billion) into the bank after its collapse. It retains the "bad bank" slice of Northern Rock, which holds the bank's problem loans.