San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the world's biggest bank by market value, said the move will aid its growth push in Britain and help it to support U.S. clients with overseas financial needs and European customers.

Burdale, founded in 1992, was bought by Wells from Bank of Ireland for about 690 million euros ($876 million) in February 2012 and now has about 40 staff, up from 28 at the time of the takeover.

Wells said Burdale's client base has doubled and lending has more than doubled since the acquisition, though it does not break out revenue for the unit.

The business provides loans of 10 million pounds ($16 million) or more that are backed by assets such as land, buildings, machinery or inventory.

Companies that take asset-backed loans include manufacturers, retailers and technology firms, often to fund growth or refinance, or to turnaround businesses or make acquisitions.

Most of Wells Fargo's revenue comes from the United States. Its number of staff in Europe, Middle East and Africa - mostly based in Britain - had increased to 930 in May from about 600 at the start of 2012 after targeting wholesale services for large and medium-sized U.S. companies and European businesses active in the United States.

(1 US dollar = 0.6212 British pound)

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by David Goodman)