LONDON - U.K. entrepreneur Hugh Osmond's Sun Capital Partners remains interested in buying the retail branch network being sold by Lloyds Banking Group, but outstanding issues with the business still need to be resolved, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
The person declined to comment on the nature of the outstanding matters but said that Sun Capital's failed attempt to buy Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks from National Australia Bank Ltd. for around 2 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) did not affect its issues with the Lloyds' network sale.
Earlier Wednesday, BBC Business Editor Robert Peston reported that NBNK Investments PLC, the stock-market group set up to buy banks, would at midday submit a bid of around 1.5 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) to acquire the 632 bank branches and 36 billion pounds ($56.1 billion) of deposits that Lloyds is selling.
Bids are due by Sept. 30, but Lloyds is expected to be flexible because of the complexity of the deal.
Sun Capital and other potential bidder Co-operative Financial Services, owner of the Co-operative Bank and Britannia Building Society, are working through outstanding issues before making formal bids.
The business being sold, referred to as Project Verde, includes Lloyds' 632 Cheltenham & Gloucester and Lloyds TSB branches and customer accounts, the TSB brand and the Intelligent Finance brand, customers and accounts.
JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are running the auction process.
