Banco Santander is seen as the top contender to acquire some 320 Royal Bank of Scotland branches in the U.K. While other banks are in the running—Virgin Money, National Australia Bank and BBVA, among them—Santander, Spain’s largest bank, may have the deepest pockets to pull it off. In addition to the reported sale price of £1 billion ($1.51 billion), any buyer would also have to inject an additional £3 billion ($4.51 billion) to replace the emergency funding previously contributed by the Bank of England. Among the bidders, only Virgin Money is said to be the only other serious contender.
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