TSB Bank and its advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers are this weekend making a preliminary assessment of the bids received for the bank.

After the deadline for the receipt of proposals from interested parties closed at 2 p.m. yesterday, sources said a number of "interesting proposals" had been submitted.

The proposals will be examined in more detail over the next four weeks. The process follows TSB Bank's invitation in April to "parties who can demonstrate a capacity to partake in the future development of the bank" to submit their proposals to its advisers. The decision followed the collapse of its planned merger with ACCBank. While TSB initially stressed that it was taking a "twin track" approach, considering a possible bid or merger or continuing to develop independently, market sources believe that an outright sale is the most likely outcome.

Sources say that a "significant" number of financial institutions and companies outside the financial services sector requested the bank's information memorandum. Interest came from banks in Ireland, the UK and Europe and from telecoms operators.

A number of parties came back to the advisers seeking additional information or clarifications. TSB is expected to disclose on Monday how this interest has translated into concrete bids for the bank or proposals.

Among the players in the Irish market tipped as possible bidders are Irish Life & Permanent, though it is cutting back its branch network, and Ulster Bank.

Anglo Irish Bank, which examined the memorandum, has not made a bid.

If the merger with First Active had gone ahead, Anglo could have been a serious contender for TSB.

But a bid now would not make strategic sense for Anglo.

In any case the bank would have been interested only if it could have implemented severe cost-cutting at TSB.

National Irish Bank's parent National Australia Bank is on record that its current strategy centres on developing its business in the northern hemisphere - Britain and Ireland.

Within this area, the group currently has a dominant position in Northern Ireland, is the third largest bank in Scotland and has a strong position in the Yorkshire region. But its penetration of the Irish market remains low and profits fell 40 per cent to €11.4 million (£9 million) for the six months to end March, while it has no presence in south-east England.

On the basis of its strategic position a bid for TSB would make sense.

But analysts feel the group will concentrate on acquisitions in south-east England in the short to medium term.

The immediate issue in the Irish market, they say, is managing the fall-out from the report of the High Court inspectors investigating the marketing of unauthorised offshore insurance products and interest-loading on customers' accounts.

This report is expected to be completed later this year or early next year.