Bidders emerge for Royal Bank of Scotland unit

Private equity firm CVC has joined with reinsurance giant Swiss Re in a bid for control of the insurance arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a British newspaper reported Sunday.

The Sunday Times said Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners and the Swiss Reinsurance Co. have made a more than 3 billion pound ($5.2 billion) offer to buy a 51 percent stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance business. The paper did not identify a source for its report.

Swiss Re's London-based spokesman Tim Dickenson and CVC spokesman James Olley both declined to comment. A call to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group was not immediately returned.

Like other leading British banks, RBS was battered by devastating write-downs connected to the global credit crisis.

On Monday, the government announced it was buying or guaranteeing 20 billion pounds ($34.6 billion) worth of shares in RBS, a move which could leave taxpayers with a majority stake in the Edinburgh-based bank.

RBS has also been trying to shed other assets, including its insurance business, in an effort to raise cash. The Sunday Times said RBS, which controls the Direct Line and Churchill brands, is Britain's second-largest general insurer. The paper also identified