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Lloyds denies branch sale trouble; confirms six bidders

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  • 25/07/2011
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Lloyds denies branch sale trouble; confirms six bidders
Lloyds Banking Group has denied speculation that its branch sell off is under threat, saying that it is currently considering six “credible proposals” from bidders.

A spokesperson for the group said that the six potential proposals include those that were received by its initial bid deadline of the end of 11 July.

Lloyds has not set an official deadline for final bids to be received by.

However, it would not confirm or deny reports by the Daily Telegraph that suggested just two bids have been officially made, by investment group NBNK and Co-operative Financial Services.

The paper reported that Lloyds may now be forced to scrap the European Commission-dictated sale, dubbed Project Verde, and place the 632 branches into a separately quoted business.

However, Lloyds spokesperson Charlotte Sjoberg said: “”We have several credible proposals we are considering and a number of organisations are interested in the Verde business and are talking with us.”

She added that an initial public offering (IPO) of the branches was an option that the group has always had under consideration.

Sjoberg said that the branch sale process was moving fast and that, if it did not achieve a suitable price, Lloyds had already done enough preparation to take the branches to market.

Lloyds said it remains on course to announce a preferred bidder or IPO by the end of the year.

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