NAB Waits to Place Indicative Bid on Lloyds

National Australia Bank's (ASX:NAB) is waiting to put an indicative bid for the 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches up for sale. NAB did not want to cave in to pressure when the bid process was stepped up.

Lloyd's chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio set a Monday deadline for indicative bids, stunning potential bidders. The date was much earlier than expected for the deal that could reach $4.8 billion.

NAB chief executive Cameron Clyne did not comment about the indicative and instead referred to comments he made in May.

"There is a lot of debate in the UK market at present about the future shape of the UK banking industry, with a common theme being that the UK market would benefit from more traditional banks and more competition," Clyne said in a statement at that time.

"This places our operations in a great position to capitalise on this sentiment. Our No 1 priority is and has always been to grow the business organically, but in this climate it is also only natural that we would look at other options available to us."

The European Union has indicated that the branches needed to be sold after Lloyd received $30 billion in state aid during the global financial crisis. NAB is seen as a top contender to place a bid as it has the capital and infrastructure to accommodate surplus branches.

The timetable allowed NAB time to consider whether it is going to bid or not.

NAB operates the Clydesdale and Yorkshire brands in Great Britain.