Spanish bank Banco Santander has shelved its plan to acquire some 300 branches of Royal Bank of Scotland. The two banks could not agree on the price for the branches, according to news reports. The bailout plan for RBS in 2008 had stipulated that it should sell the branches by 2017. RBS earlier attempted to use these branches to form a new bank under the Williams and Glyn brand but this effort was abandoned because of cost concerns. Since then the bank has been looking for buyers for the branches and Santander was keen on acquiring them. There are other potential bidders, including a company that owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks and US based Corsair Capital.
