RBS In Exclusive Talks With Advent,Bain For Worldpay -Sources

23rd Jul 2010 14:41

By Marietta Cauchi and Patricia Kowsmann Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LONDON (Dow Jones)--Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) is in exclusive talks with Advent International Corp. and Bain Capital LLC for the sale of its Global Merchants Services division, people familiar with the situation said Friday. The buyout duo beat off TPG and Clayton Dubilier & Rice in the final stages of a hotly-fought auction for the payment processing business which initially attracted a raft of both private equity and trade players. RBS wants to complete a deal by Aug. 6, when it reports its first-half results. One person said RBS expected to close a deal by the first week in August. The unit is being sold by the 83%-government owned bank as part of a disposal program forced on it after being bailed out by the state. It hired UBS AG (UBS) to run the auction earlier this year. Global Merchant Services' biggest asset is RBS Worldpay, which processes credit-card payments in 40 different countries. The unit was expected to attract up to GBP2.5 billion. -By Marietta Cauchi and Patricia Kowsmann, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9241; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 09:41 ET (13:41 GMT)