Sun Capital has emerged alongside NBNK, the banking start-up founded by Lloyds of London chairman Lord Levene, and Co-operative Financial Services as a bidder for the Lloyds branches, the Telegraph reports.
Sun Capital is understood to have spent 10 months developing its bid and already has management in place to take over running the new bank.
Among the other businessmen connected to Sun Capital is Edward Spencer-Churchill, son of the Duke of Marlborough.
Lloyds is expected to announce the final list of bidders for the branch sale within the next month and hopes to identify a buyer before the end of the year.
The emergence of the Sun Capital bid comes as speculation grows Lloyds might abandon the auction process and pursue a separate stock market listing for the new business it is creating.
Lloyds has already appointed a separate management team for the new business to push ahead with the creation of a standalone operation that will be capable of running itself independently of its parent before the end of next year.
