After Santander UK's purchase collapsed on Friday, Sir Richard Branson's banking arm makes an approach to buy 316 RBS branches.

Sir Richard Branson's banking arm has made a swift approach to swallow up more than 300 branches at the centre of an escalating row between Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Santander UK. I have learned that Virgin Money has approached the state-backed RBS in the last 24 hours to express an interest in buying 316 branches that must be sold under orders from the European Commission. Virgin's interest will provide a glimmer of hope to RBS that it may yet be able to secure a sale ahead of a Brussels-imposed deadline of the end of 2013. Santander UK's purchase of the business for £1.65bn, which had already been the subject of several rounds of re-negotiation, collapsed on Friday night amid acrimony. The Spanish-owned bank said it was pulling out of the deal amid problems with the network's IT systems, while RBS suggested that they provided a convenient excuse to withdraw amid the banking industry's torrid operating environment....Read more here: Richard Branson Renews Interest In RBS

Nationwide eyes bid for RBS branches

Nationwide Building Society is considering bidding for the 316 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland, potentially pitching into battle with Virgin Money and private equity group JC Flowers.

The UK’s largest building society earlier this year revealed that it plans to move into small business lending and the acquisition of RBS’s operations would catapult it from a challenger to a serious player in the market. Sources close to the mutual said it was “watching the situation with interest” at RBS. The state-backed lender is under instruction to sell the branches, and a portion of its small business accounts, to meet state-aid rules imposed by Brussels three years ago. RBS was planning a £1.65bn sale to Santander until the Spanish bank pulled out a fortnight ago. Virgin Money, which recently bought part of Northern Rock, and JC Flowers, which has been keen to build a banking presence in the UK, have expressed an interest in a deal. The prospect of a bidding war will delight RBS, which is expected to have to slash its sale price to around £650m to meet the European Union’s demands and agree a sale by the end of next year. The 82pc-taxpayer owned lender has already spent “hundreds of millions of pounds” preparing the operation for sale, chairman Sir Philip Hampton has said....Read more here: Nationwide eyes bid for RBS branches - Telegraph

'Chronically' poor computer systems at RBS could put Nationwide off buying 300 branches

Nationwide's interest in buying more than 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland could hinge on whether it can merge the companies’ IT systems without causing chaos for customers. Britain’s biggest building society has emerged as a front-runner to buy the branches after a long running deal between RBS and Santander collapsed last month. But Nationwide is thought to be worried about the quality of RBS’s computer systems which have been described privately as ‘chronic’ by senior regulators.....Read more here: Nationwide fears for RBS IT system could sink branches deal | This is Money