The private-equity firm Permira has reportedly teamed up with American Express Co. to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's Global Merchant Services division, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.
According to a Dow Jones report, the two are joining the buyout firms TPG Inc., Warburg Pincus LLC, CVC Capital Partners and a consortium made up of Bain Capital LLC and Advent International Corp. in the auction.
Canada's largest payment processing firm, Moneris Solutions, is also participating in the bid, which is in the due diligence phase. Final offers for the unit, which provides credit card payment processing services, are due at the end of May.
CVC Capital Partners has also partnered with the French information technology company Atos Origin and the private-equity firm Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe to bid for the RBS assets, the person said. Welsh Carson focuses on the information and business services, and health-care sectors.
