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* Three groups remain in bidding for branch sale
* Private equity groups would be anchor investors
By Matt Scuffham
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - State-backed Royal Bank ofScotland is unlikely to decide how it plans to sell morethan 300 UK branches until the end of next month after extendinga deadline for prospective bidders, industry sources said.
There are three potential bidders, who have this week beenfinalising leadership and how to structure what is proving to bea complex deal, sources said.
RBS had set a "soft" deadline of the start of this week forbids to be made, but that was now likely to stretch into nextweek, industry sources said. The network could be valued atabout 1.5 billion pounds ($2.3 billion).
The bank was likely to take several weeks to assess them asthey will be structured differently and the bank needs certaintythe successful bidder can deliver, making a decision beforeSeptember unlikely, one person familiar with the matter said.
RBS must sell the 315 branches as a condition of receiving ataxpayer bailout in 2008, which left it 81 percent owned by theUK government. It is preparing the branches for a stock marketflotation but may first sell a big stake to an "anchor"investor, who would stay on as an investor after the share sale.
Part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group plans tolist a network of 630 branches on the stock market by June 2014.
"We have had interest from investors in potentially joiningwith us in this journey and coming on as a partner, either as apre-IPO investor or potentially in terms of a forward sale,"Bruce van Saun, RBS finance director, said last week.
Van Saun said the complexity of separating the branchesmeant the share sale was unlikely to happen until early 2015.
Three groups are expected to submit bids, sources said, butthe complexity of the due diligence had delayed some processes.
The groups are a vehicle called W&G Investments that is ledby former Tesco finance director Andy Higginson; a consortiumincluding private equity firms Corsair Capital and Centerbridge;and a group led by Anacap Financial and Blackstone.
RBS suffered a bitter blow when a planned 1.65 billion poundsale to Santander collapsed in October. It is expectedto ask the European Union to extend a December 2013 deadline forthe sale when it decides on its preferred option.
The Corsair and Anacap-led approaches would involve thembecoming anchor investors ahead of an IPO, whereas W&G wouldlook to take a majority stake or buy the business out, thesources said. The three groups declined to comment or could notimmediately be reached.
The Corsair/Centerbridge group is also backed by the Churchof England's investment fund, Standard life and a Rothschildinvestment fund and could pay 600-800 million pounds to take aminority stake, a person familiar with the matter said. It thisweek appointed former United Utilities boss Philip Green to leadthe bid.
Higginson's group last week launched W&G as a vehicle toevaluate and possibly pursue an acquisition of the RBS branches.It plans to list on the junior London stock market AIM on Aug.14 and have enough money to cover due diligence costs.
The vehicle was named W&G to denote the expected name of theRBS branches being sold - Williams & Glyn.
The Anacap consortium will be led by Alan Hughes, a formerchief executive of internet bank First Direct, the FinancialTimes reported last week.
