RBS seen set for insurance bids by end of July

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) 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) 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) and Travelers (TRV.N) and Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE). 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)