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Royal Bank of Scotland has accelerated its plans to sell its U.S. subsidiary. The company will conduct a partial initial public offering of its Citizens Financial Group unit in the second half of 2014, and plans to fully divest itself through offerings in 2015 and 2016.
November 1 -
Royal Bank of Scotland is said to be looking for a buyer for its 105-branch network in Chicago, but finding a buyer might be difficult because of market conditions and regulatory issues.
October 4
U.S. Bancorp (USB) could soon have a much larger presence in the Second City.
The Minneapolis company has inked a deal to buy 105 Chicago-area branches of Citizens Financial Group, the U.S. bank owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, Crain's Chicago Business
The acquisition of the branches, which are branded Charter One Bank, would more than double U.S. Bancorp's presence in Chicago. At June 30, the $361 billion-asset company had 90 branches and $6 billion in deposits.
A spokesman for U.S. Bancorp declined to comment on "marketplace rumors or speculation."
If true, U.S. Bancorp would be bucking an industry trend following the financial downturn of 2008. Observers say big banks are essentially barred from acquisitions and many of the megabanks have been selling massive swaths of branches rather than acquiring new ones.
Rumors about a potential sale of the branches have persisted at least since 2008 when RBS was nationalized by the United Kingdom. In early 2013, RBS announced it would sell a portion of Citizens Financial Group in an initial public offering. In November, it said it would
