Santander reportedly submits bid for UK's TSB

(Sharecast News) - Santander is reportedly among bidders that have submitted a binding offer for Britain's TSB.

The offer would value the Sabadell-owned UK bank at more than £2.3bn and the Spanish lender may hold a board meeting as soon as Tuesday to decide on whether to proceed with the sale and then a winning bid, according to a report on Monday.

Santander and Sabadell declined to comment in response to the story by the Reuters news agency citing two unnamed sources. Other potential bidders include Barclays, Bloomberg previously reported, which the UK bank has not commented on.

The move on TSB, which has the seventh largest branch network among UK banks, comes as Sabadell tries to ward off being taken over by rival BBVA.

Sabadell said earlier this month it had received unsolicited interest in TSB, but any talks need permission from its shareholders. The process is further complicated by an impending decision by BBVA on whether to proceed with its offer for Sabadell, after the Spanish government this month limited a full merger for at least three years.

The buyer of TSB would add assets of £46bn, mainly made up of mortgages, and customer deposits of around £35bn.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com