Just two formal bids have been made for a collection of over 600 Lloyds Banking Group branches being sold by the British bank, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources. The newspaper said the sale of the 632 branches, being carried out to appease competition regulators, was in disarray after new banking venture NBNK and Co-Operative Financial Services were the only firms to submit formal bids.
Advisors on the sale are considering plans to demerge the branches into a separate company as a result of the lack of interest, added the report. "A dual-track process has always been part of how we've presented it to the market. We have received a number of credible bids," said a spokeswoman for Lloyds.
Several other groups including Virgin Money, the financial services arm of entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group, National Australia Bank and entrepreneur Clive Cowdery were expected to be interested in the branches.