Spanish bank Sabadell has bid to buy TSB, a unit of British bailed-out lender Lloyds TSB, the pair announced Thursday.
TSB said the informal offer was worth 340 pence per TSB share, valuing the group at £1.7 billion ($2.5 billion, 2.4 billion euros), adding it would be willing to recommend a formal offer at that price to shareholders.
"The boards of TSB and Banco de Sabadell SA note the recent media speculation. The board of TSB confirms that it has received a preliminary proposal from Sabadell which may or may not result in a formal offer for the entire share capital of the company," said a statement.
Sabadell said TSB would benefit from the Spanish group's "resources, experience gained in the Spanish banking market and SME lending as well as its track record of successful business and IT integrations".