RBS seen set for insurance bids by end of July

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) wants second-round offers for its insurance business to be submitted by the end of this month, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Four suitors including Zurich Financial (ZURN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) put in informal first-round bids for the business by early June, people familiar with the matter have said.

The other companies were U.S. insurers Allstate (ALL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Travelers (TRV.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research). The business is expected to fetch 5 billion pounds to 7 billion.

RBS declined to comment.

RBS will take the bids in at the end of July, then is expected to decide -- depending on the price offered and the deliverability of financing -- whether to go ahead with a sale and possibly enter exclusive talks with a preferred bidder, the sources said.

RBS Insurance, which includes the Direct Line and Churchill brands, had been valued at near 7 billion pounds but is unlikely to fetch that much amid turmoil in financial markets, sources and analysts have said.

RBS Chief Executive Fred Goodwin said after a trading update on June 11 he was confident of selling the insurance arm for the price he had in mind at the start of its auction.

(Reporting by Mathieu Robbins; Additional reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by David Holmes)