The Lloyd's Banking Group planned the sale of over 600 bank branches of the Cooperative Group, which has fell apart after the Cooperative Group decided not to proceed with the GBP750 million deal. The failure of the completion of the transaction was reported by the Financial Times last Wednesday, according to two individuals familiar with the transaction who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deal was meant to increase the market share of Coop in Britain's branch network from 4% to 10%. It is also being prepared to be properly equipped to take on the 'Big Four' banks, namely HSBC, Barclays, Lloyd's itself and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The two major players, Lloyds Bank and the Cooperative Group were unavailable to make a comment on the Financial Times news report.

According to the Financial Times, the deal's cancellation was set to be announced on Wednesday as it was originally set back in the summer. The sale was mandated in exchange for bailout funds for the 2008 financial crisis.