Ex-FSA Chief to Lead Consortium Bid for 316 RBS Branches

The former head of the U.K. Financial Services Authority is being brought in to front a bid to buy the 316 branches that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN) must sell, the Financial Times in London reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.

John Tiner, who was previously head of the city watchdog in the run-up to the global financial crisis, has been brought in to lead a bid by a consortium which includes the likes of Standard Life PLC (SL.LN) and RIT Capital Partners PLC (RCP.LN), as well as private equity firms Corsair and Centerbridge, the newspaper said.

The consortium, which is one of at least half a dozen potential buyers to have made approaches, plans to invest more than GBP500 million in the deal ahead of a float, the FT said, citing people briefed on the approach.

Mr. Tiner would be chairman of the venture, working with John Maltby, the former Lloyds director and now a partner at Corsair, as CEO.

The FT said the investment would initially be made into a debt instrument issued by RBS but would later convert into equity in the sold-off portfolio of branches.

RBS is required to sell the branches as part of the penalty imposed by the European Commission following the group's bailout in by the British government in 2008.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.ft.com

-London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]