Barclays and rival European lenders will submit bids for Spain's Banco Atlantico in the next two weeks, a source familiar with the matter has said.
The other bidders for Spain's seventh-biggest bank are Dutch-Belgian financial services company Fortis, Italy's Unicredito, Portugal's Caixa Geral de Depositos and Spain's Banco de Sabadell, the source said today.
The source declined to comment on the likely size of bids for Banco Atlantico but said the sellers wanted a high price for one of the few independent lenders in one of Europe's most profitable banking markets.
Arab Banking Corp said last month it would sell its 68.5-per cent stake in Atlantico. Other owners include Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.
Barclays wants to buy the bank to add to its €1.14 billion purchase of Banco Zaragozano in July. Barclays combined Zaragozano with its own Spanish business to form the country's sixth-biggest private bank and expand its operations in the euro zone.
Analysts questioned the Zaragozano deal, saying Barclays had paid a high price of about three times book value. Atlantico's owners are looking for a similar multiple, they said.
Barclays shares were down 0.4 per cent at 506-1/4 pence at 12:12 p.m., and Banco Atlantico's stock was down 0.2 per cent to €61.90.
It may be some time before the sellers make a decision, and the transaction might fall through, the source said, pointing out that a sale has been talked about for many years and that Arab Banking Corp has changed its mind before. Barclays, Unicredito and Fortis declined to comment today.