NatWest favourite to snap up TSB Bank amid 'interest'

NATWEST Group has been tipped as the most likely buyer of TSB Bank.

- By Samuel Norman

Banco Sabadell, TSB’s owner, said it had received expressions of interest over a potential takeover of its UK business.

NatWest returned to private ownership last month, setting up a deals spree.

It has bought more than £5billion of shares from the Treasury in its directed buy-back programme in the past four years, freeing up bundles of capital for the lender.

RBC Capital Markets analysts Pablo de la Torre Cuevas and Benjamin Toms said: “This transaction makes the most sense for NatWest.

“Management has been the most open around potential merger and acquisition.”