The British lender was directed by the European Union rules to divest its bank offices by the end of 2013, following receipt of £45.5bn government bailout package during the financial crisis of 2008.
W&G, which is headed by former Tesco Bank chairman Andrew Higginson, is likely to offer an upfront payment of £1.1bn, while additional £400m will be reimbursed after analyzing the business performance of the acquired branches, media sources reported.
In 2012, Spanish lender Banco Santander’s UK subsidiary scrapped the £1.7bn deal due to over delay in the acquisition process, while Co-operative Bank withdrew from the deal this year.
The bank is likely to pick up the preferred bidder in early September this year, as it has received offers from two other groups, including private investment firms Corsair Capital and Centerbridge Partners. They reportedly offered between £600m and £800m.
However, the proposal from the private investment firms is not intended to acquire all 316 branches, instead involves acquiring a certain stake, if RBS floats the branches as a separate entity.
The 81% UK government owned lender said that the offices put for sale have approximately £21.5bn in customer deposits and serve nearly 2 million small businesses and consumers.
In July, the Church Commissioners, endowment fund of the Church of England managing a portfolio worth nearly £5.5bn, extended its support to a consortium comprising Corsair Capital and Centerbridge Partners’s offering to acquire the 316 branches of RBS.
Most recently, the bank divested its Indian business banking, credit cards business and mortgage portfolio to Kolhapur-based Ratnakar Bank.
