HIGH STREET lending giant Santander is considering a £2bn takeover of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks.
The Spanish owned group has been eyeing the lenders as it seeks to get expansion plans back on track after the collapse of its deal to buy 316 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland.
Clydesdale and Yorkshire parent National Australia Bank has been under pressure to sell the loss-making divisions.
Figures released in October showed that Clydesdale and Yorkshire slumped to a pre-tax loss of £183m in the year to September 2012 after they were hit by a sharp increase in bad debts.
But they have a strong presence in business banking in the north west and Scotland which would provide a boost to Santander and its burgeoning small business lending division.
Santander, which was not available for comment, has already grown to become the UK’s fifth largest lender through a series of acquisitions, including the former Abbey and Alliance & Leicester building societies.
