BBVA 'mulls bid for Yorkshire bank' - graduate jobs

Graduates looking for a job in the financial sector may be interested to learn BBVA is reportedly eyeing up Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks.

According to the Sunday Times, National Australia Bank (NAB) is expected to launch a sale of the two banks.

And the Spanish banking giant BBVA is considering making a £2 billion bid for them, the newspaper reported.

NAB recently pulled out of the auction of 318 branches being sold by bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland, forced by European competition officials.

With Spanish giant Santander - the owner of Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and Bradford & Bingley - now the clear favourite to buy the RBS branches, NAB is focusing elsewhere and said to be considering a complete withdrawal from the UK market.

NAB - which bought the Clydesdale in 1987 - has considered listing the UK arm, although a sale is said to be its preferred option.

BBVA has held initial discussions with NAB over the business although it has yet to make a formal approach, the newspaper said. The Spanish bank was unavailable for comment.

NAB has around 2.7 million UK customers through Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bank, which incorporates the Yorkshire Bank brand.

The business has a total of 340 branches, consisting of 188 Yorkshire Bank and 152 Clydesdale sites. It employs more than 8,200 full-time workers in the UK, with 2,400 in its Glasgow and Clydebank operations and 1,900 in Yorkshire.