BANCO DE SABADELL, S.A. 
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish bank Sabadell (>> Banco de Sabadell SA) is considering making a bid for an 18 billion euro (13.2 billion pounds) mortgage portfolio held by British nationalised banks Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, a source familiar with the process said on Monday.
Sabadell is one of several potential bidders interested in the assets, the source said, confirming a report in financial newspaper Expansion.
The portfolio was put up for sale by Britain's UK Asset Resolution, or bad bank, charged with winding down the assets of the two bailed-out UK lenders.
Interested parties may bid for all, or parts, of the portfolios, the source said.
Sabadell declined to comment.
The Spanish lender is the favourite to win the bid for the assets, Expansion said citing unnamed financial sector sources. The portfolios comprise non-performing and performing mortgages and Expansion's sources say the portfolio could sell for around 400 million pounds ($618.24 million).
The acquisition, to be finalised in the next few months, would be financed by capital from Sabadell's British lender TSB, according to Expansion's sources.
The Catalonia-based lender closed its deal to take full control of Britain's TSB bank for 1.7 billion pounds ($2.6 bln) in mid-August.
(Reporting by Tomas Cobos; Writing by Paul Day; Editing by Susan Fenton)
