Merrill Lynch, one of the three advisers in Santander Central Hispano's takeover bid for Abbey National, the UK bank, is sole bookrunner on the Spanish bank's sale of £1.1bn (€1.6bn) worth of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland.

Santander is unwinding almost half its 5.5% shareholding in RBS ahead of its £8bn agreed acquisition of Abbey National, although rival bids have been mooted. Abbey National, advised by Morgan Stanley, and Santander, which is being advised by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Merrill, are expecting to complete the deal by November. As part of efforts to secure regulatory approval the Spanish bank has agreed to end its European banking and financial services joint venture with RBS.