Challenger bank Secure Trust is weighing up a bid for RBS business Williams & Glyn
Challenger bank Secure Trust is considering making a bid for Williams & Glyn, the banking business that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is required to sell off by the end of next year.
City PM understands that Secure Trust, an AIM-listed retail and commercial bank, is looking at Williams & Glyn, which RBS is getting ready to dispose of as part of the terms of its 2008 bailout.
It had been reported over the weekend that Secure Trust is close to appointing an adviser to draw up its bid. But a bank source told City PM that such reports were speculative and premature, saying the smaller lender had “no current intention” of hiring an adviser.
RBS told investors in December that plans to separate the Williams & Glyn business from the wider banking group in the first quarter of 2017. At the time, the bank also said that in addition to preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), it was planning to launch a trade sale process in the first half of this year.
Santander and BBVA are also widely expected to bid for the 300-branch Williams & Glyn network.