Bank of Ireland is in early talks about selling its UK retail unit Bristol & West to British bank Alliance & Leicester, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. Ireland's second biggest bank by market value is talking to both Alliance & Leicester and one other British bank about a sale, the Irish edition of the newspaper reported on Sunday, citing a UK banking source.
"We continue to look at a range of options for the future of the branch network and will reach a decision in the coming months," a spokesman for Bank of Ireland said while declining to comment on the specifics of the report.