(4 August 2010−Global) Financial power house Santander is continuing pick up assets from rivals, as the bank eyes acquisitions in the United States and Britain.The Spanish Bank is said to be close to formally announcing the acquisition of 318 branches from the Royal Bank of Scotland in Britain originally valued at £2 billion.
Despite the expected formal announcement details of the final purchase price are reportedly not going to be made public.
Many close to the deal have said they expect the final sum to come in at around £1-£1.5 billion.
In the United States the bank has a preliminary agreement in place to purchase US$4.3 billion worth of car loans from HSBC.
Last month, it was reported that Santander is planning to float around 20 per cent of its UK operations on the London Stock Exchange to help with funding its planned acquisitions.