Intesa SanPaolo wants to acquire Coutts International

Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo is considering acquisition of Coutts International, real estate management department of Royal bank of Scotland (RBS), which is estimated at USD 1 billion.

As Financial Times reports, in early August, RBS announced it was planning to sell Coutts which has a large number of respectable clients including the British queen Elizabeth.

RBS is planning to sell only the international part of Coutts, not the British part. However, as the same source finds out, Intesa is trying to persuade RBS to sell the entire business of Coutts.

In September, Swiss bank Julius Baer expressed interest for the acquisition of Coutts as well.