Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (RBS) is in exclusive talks with Advent International Corporation and Bain Capital LLC over the sale of RBS WorldPay, Inc., two people familiar with the matter said on July 23, 2010. Advent International Corporation and Bain Capital have about a week's exclusivity to finalize a deal for the business, one of the people said. Advent and Bain have been competing with TPG Capital and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. to buy WorldPay, which is rumored to fetch 2.5 billion. Under EU rules Royal Bank of Scotland can retain a stake in its WorldPay unit of up to 20%. Allowing RBS to retain a stake would cut the outlay for a buyer and could help the unit keep key licenses and ensure the presence of a banking partner. UBS is advising RBS on the sale. Credit Suisse is advising Advent and Bain. Reuters added that RBS declined to comment. The private equity firms either declined to comment or had no comment to make.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) has received three bids for RBS WorldPay Inc. by the deadline of July 19, a person close to the matter said. It is known that all the parties interested are private equity companies. Advent International Corporation and Bain Capital LLC partnered for the bid. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. and TPG Capital have also placed bid for RBS WorldPay, the source said. The Advent/Bain consortium is seen as the lead bidder. According to industry sources, RBS WorldPay is likely to fetch between 2.5 billion and 3 billion.

Cambridge Place Investment Partners filed a lawsuit accusing a number of major banks of mis-selling an aggregate of $2.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities. The suit, filed in Boston, targets JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch, HSBC Holdings plc, Barclays PLC, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG. The banks did not carry out proper due diligence and relayed untrue information about subprime mortgages in sales pitches and prospectuses. It said the banks frequently had people on site at mortgage lenders and provided them with credit worth billions of dollars. Barclays is accused of mis-selling $141 million of MBS between 2005 and 2007; HSBC is accused of mis-selling $64 million worth of securities between 2005 and 2006; and RBS is accused of mis-selling MBS worth $260 million between 2005 and 2007 through Greenwich Capital.