Virgin Money confirmed the news today that it is all set to make a first round bid for Royal Bank of Scotland's high street banking network in United Kingdom. Virgin said today that it has hired Greenhill to help prepare a bid before the 6 April deadline for submissions of interest.

The company led by Sir Richard Branson has reportedly taken this step to become a major player in the internet banking sector. This recent move by Virgin will also please the UK government which wants the banking sector to be more competitive.

Royal Bank of Scotland is selling its 320 branches in UK which reportedly have a book value of up to £2 billion. Earlier, Spanish bank Santander appeared to be the only credible option for buying the assets of RBS as no other contender had showed interest in it. But now the situation has changed as there are at least four contenders reportedly bidding for the assets.

Apart from Santander and Virgin, National Australia Bank and another Spanish bank BBVA are also in the race to buy the English branches of RBS.

However, Virgin is reportedly looking at the financing options for acquiring the RBS assets. The company said that it has no problem in working with a variety of investors.