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NBNK Investments PLC (NBNK.LN) will make a new bid for the 632 bank branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG), reports the Sunday Telegraph newspaper without saying where it got its information.

The move by NBNK, a listed investment company set up to build a new U.K. retail bank through acquisition, comes amid concerns that the proposed sale of the Lloyds branches to The Co-operative Group, a member owned groceries-to-banking business, had hit regulatory hurdles, the newspaper reported.

The sweetened GBP1.5 billion offer, due to be presented Monday, will propose Lloyds demerge the 632 "Project Verde" branches, float the business and allow NBNK to fully underwrite the demerger in cash.

Lloyds has said if the deal with Co-op did not go through, "Plan B" would be to float the business, according to the report.

In December, the Co-op was chosen as preferred bidder for the branches over rival NBNK. However, the bid by the Co-op has been hampered by regulatory issues. In part, the U.K.'s Financial Services Authority has questioned the experience of the Co-op's board, which count a nurse and a medicinal-plant consultant among its members.

NBNK wasn't immediately available to comment on the report.

A Lloyds spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, pointing to the bank's statement Thursday in which it said it was still in talks with the Co-op, which remains its preferred bidder.

Separately, the Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that the Co-op is considering selling some its smaller businesses in a new shake-up of the group. The newspaper didn't say where it got its information.

Co-op Chief Executive Peter Marks wants to focus the company's strategy on its grocery and banking divisions, and may consider offloading fringe assets such as its own-label workwear, electricals business or car dealership unit, according to the report.

The Co-op wasn't immediately available to comment on the sale report.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

-London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9320

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