"The company (Northern Rock) is expected to make an announcement tomorrow that will say Virgin is the preferred bidder," the person said.
LONDON (Reuters) - Ailing British bank Northern Rock <NRK.L> is set to name a consortium led by Richard Branson's Virgin Group as its preferred bidder, a person familiar with the situation said on Sunday.
"The company (Northern Rock) is expected to make an announcement tomorrow that will say Virgin is the preferred bidder," the person said.
It said the Virgin consortium will immediately repay 11 billion pounds ($22.6 billion) of the estimated 25 billion pounds the bank has borrowed from the Bank of England and Virgin would repay the loan in full before any big payout to shareholders.
Virgin declined to comment. Northern Rock was not immediately available.
!ADVERTISEMENT!(Reporting by Sumeet Desai and Steve Slater; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
