National Australia Bank is seeking to position itself to exit its 25-year investment in the UK over the next three to four years,
Reuters reported late yesterday.
The idea - which has been the subject of market speculation for a year or more - is for the bank to identify a partner for the 600 (and potentially 1000) branches of Lloyds Banking Group that are for sale.
NAB is in talks with NBNK Investments and BBVA, and perhaps with other potential buyers of its Clydesdale Bank business, as well as other prospective investors, the news service reports.
If NAB wins the bidding competition with a partner, it plans to spin off its existing UK assets into a joint venture and wait for favourable market conditions so it can steadily sell down its stake in the venture, Reuters reports.
An NAB solo bid for the Lloyds branches is "almost out of question", according to the report.