RBS share price falls as Santander bids for Williams & Glyn branch
RBS' share price fell 1.75% closing at 185.80p, underperforming the benchmark FTSE index which ended the day down 0.73%. The news comes as it has been revealed that Santander made an offer for RBS' Williams & Glynn business, as RBS continues to offload branches under the EU's conditions of the bank's bailout. 

Spain’s Banco Santander has made an offer for Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s (LON:RBS) Williams & Glyn business, Sky News has revealed. The move could end the bailed-out lender’s lengthy process of offloading the branches, a key EU condition of the group’s taxpayer-funded bailout during the financial crisis.



RBS’ share price shed 1.75 percent to close at 185.80p in the previous session, underperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which ended the day 0.73 percent in the red at 6,645.40 points. The shares have recovered some ground this morning, having added 0.48 percent to 186.70p as of 08:06 BST, as compared with a 0.25-percent rise in the Footsie.

Sky News reported yesterday that Santander had tabled a formal offer in the last few days to acquire RBS’ branches, set to be rebranded as Williams & Glyn. While the proposal has reportedly spurred a decision to hold further discussions about a transaction, sources have told the newswire that a deal remained uncertain and could still fall apart.



Sky News quoted sources as saying that the talks with Santander UK were focused on an asset transfer, whereby Williams & Glyn’s loans, deposits, customer base and branches would transfer to the ownership of the Spanish bank, with some form of transitional services agreement in place similar to the one used by Lloyds (LON:LLOY) when it offloaded its TSB unit.

RBS is expected to provide an update on its plans for Williams & Glyn alongside its half-year results on Friday. Earlier this year, the bailed-out lender warned that it might miss yet another EU deadline to divest the branches. Insiders, however, told Sky news that the unit’s relative attractiveness to buyers had improved since the UK voted to leave the European Union, because of what the City sees as a greater need for challenger banks to consolidate.

As of 08:16 BST, Wednesday, 03 August, Royal Bank of Scotland Group share price is 185.80p.

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