Troubled RBS branch sale could 'drag on until 2016'

Taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland could miss its end-2013 deadline to sell 316 branches, a potential bidder has said.

One of the bidders has warned that the sale, known as Project Rainbow, could drag on until 2016. W&G Investments, made up of 25 leading UK investors including fund managers Schroders and Threadneedle, is proposing to buy the branches for around £1bn, according to reports. But as the consortium prepares to list in London and raise an initial £15m for its bid, it said: "It is possible that separation will not be achieved within the two-year period currently contemplated." W&G also said that it was setting a four-year deadline - after which RBS would have to repay any money W&G had al...