DealZone

The European Commission’s restrictions on state aid for banks may force Lloyds Banking Group to sell off all or part of its Halifax branch network, a report today said. The news comes days after it emerged that Royal Bank of Scotland may dust off old brands ahead of a similar sale, also prompted by the possibility of action from the European Commission.

And here’s a round-up of deal-related stories from Wednesday’s press:

* Creditors of Oleg Deripaska’s En+ energy and metals group may ask the Russian billionaire to pledge a stake of up to 10 percent in aluminium firm UC RUSAL in order to restructure a $1 billion debt, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Wednesday.

* Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has gathered a group of banks to finance a possible purchase of Anheuser-Busch InBev assets in central and eastern Europe, Belgian daily De Standaard reported. Reuters story here.

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