U.S. private equity firm Centerbridge Partners is interested in the 315 UK branches being sold by state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, writes Reuters. Sky News, which first reported the interest, said Centerbridge had joined forces with another buyout firm – Corsair Capital – in recent weeks, but that it was unclear whether the duo would make a formal offer for the branch network, writes Reuters.

UK financial services group Nationwide is interested in bidding for 316 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland to speed up its expansion into lending to small and medium-sized businesses, writes Reuters. A 1.65-billion-pound ($2.6 billion) deal to sell the branches collapsed last month after Spanish bidder Santander said the process of carving out the business had proved more difficult than expected, writes Reuters.

Virgin Money has emerged as a frontrunner in a small field of potential suitors to buy 316 branches from majority state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, after Santander pulled out of a deal, writes Reuters. The collapse of the sale was a major blow to RBSas it is now likely to have to accept a price well under the 1.65 billion pounds ($2.65 billion) agreed with Santander, writes Reuters. US private equity firm JC Flowers is also interested in a potential bid, with the firm keen to expand its small regional lender One Savings Bank, the Financial Times reported.

Fridolf Hanson has joined LBC Credit Partners as a director. He will be primarily responsible for originating, structuring and executing new debt investments for LBC. Most recently, Hanson was a senior VP of business development at Royal Bank of Scotland. PRESS RELEASE LBC Credit Partners (“LBC”), a leading provider of financing solutions to middle market [...]

Buyout firms hoping to snap up Royal Bank of Scotland‘s Direct Line Group will have to put forward a compelling offer to distract the British bank from a well-advanced plan to list its motor insurance business, writes Reuters. Floating Direct Line could value the motor insurer at over 3 billion pounds ($4.7 billion), which would [...]

Two private equity consortia plan to bid for Direct Line, the insurer owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, writes Reuters. Interested parties include Blackstone Group and Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Apax and BC Partners. (Reuters) – Two private equity consortia plan to bid for Direct Line, the insurer owned by Royal Bank of [...]

Doughty Hanson is to acquire USP Hospitales, a Spanish hospital operator, from Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland for 355 million euros ($471.3 million). USP Hospitales operates 12 hospitals, one specialist clinic and 22 auxiliary clinics, with a total of over 1,200 beds. PRESS RELEASE Doughty Hanson & Co, one of the largest independent private [...]

H.I.G. Capital has appointed Henry Gregson as a managing director in its London office. Prior to joining H.I.G., Gregson was a partner at Pamplona Capital, a private equity fund based in London. Before that, he spent several years at the private equity arm of Royal Bank of Scotland. PRESS RELEASE H.I.G. Capital, a leading global [...]

A group of dealmakers at Royal Bank of Scotland is considering a management buyout as the state-controlled bank looks to sell or shut down its advisory business, the Financial Times reported on Monday, writes Reuters. The newspaper cited people close to the plans as saying every effort will be made to sell the business as [...]

Major lender Royal Bank of Scotland has pulled out of talks about a proposed debt-for-equity swap for heavily indebted British clothing retailer Peacocks, writes Reuters. Peacocks is saddled with 240 million pounds ($366.84 million) of debt, and two sources with knowledge of the situation said an administration of the retailer, possibly within days, was the [...]