Spanish banking giant Santander may be interested in buying part of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a Spanish newspaper said Tuesday.
Santander "will study the acquisition" of RBS' small- and medium-sized business unit "if it is confirmed that RBS puts it up for sale," the business newspaper Expansion said, quoting sources in the Spanish bank's British affiliate.
Britain said Tuesday it will force RBS, which was bailed out at the height of the global financial crisis, to sell assets in a bid to revive the sector and address EU concerns over state aid.
Santander is already the third-biggest bank in Britain, where it bought Alliance & Leicester in October 2008, one month after it acquired the deposits and distribution channels of Bradford & Bingley and four years after purchasing Abbey National.
Expansion estimated the value of the 312 branches of RBS' small- and medium-sized business unit at between 1.1 and 2.2 billion euros (1.6 to 3.2 billion euros).
