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Lloyds hold merger talks with Fortis

LONDON: British banking group Lloyds TSB Group Plc has made preliminary approaches to Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis on a possible merger, Sunday Business newspaper said.

The paper said informal talks were believed to have taken place between the two sides, but they had been unable to agree terms, with the complicated ownership structure of Fortis acting as an obstacle to any deal.

No-one at Lloyds could be reached for comment.

Elsewhere the Sunday Telegraph said Lloyds had put its insurance subsidiary Abbey Life up for sale with a price tag of one billion pounds ($1.65 billion).

The paper said the purchase six months ago of mutually-owned life insurer Scottish Widows had created uncertainty over the future of Abbey Life, which Lloyds no longer regarded as a core business.-Reuters