Santander set to acquire RBS branches

Santander, Spain's biggest bank, is the sole remaining bidder for the 318 Williams & Glynn branches being offloaded by Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Spanish lender has confirmed it has entered a bid for the branches, speculated to be worth £1.8bn. National Australia Bank and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria had previously dropped out of the bidding. Santander already owns British banks Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and the savings division of Bradford & Bingley. The RBS branches would "fit like a glove" for Santander, according to Matias Inciarte, a vice-chairman at the lender, Bloomberg reports. It would mesh very well with Santander's UK strategy of boosting its business with companies, Inciarte added. RBS is offloading t...