NAB National Australia Bank Limited

   By Max Colchester 
 

LONDON--Santander U.K. Monday denied it was in talks to buy assets from National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU).

The Sunday Times reported that the unit of Spanish lender Banco Santander SA (SAN) was eyeing a 2 billion pound ($3.17 billion) deal for NAB-owned Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks to speed up its expansion in the U.K.

A spokesman for Santander said that it wasn't in talks and was focusing on organic growth within the U.K.

NAB has been under shareholder pressure to sell it U.K. operations, which are suffering as the British economy stagnates.

Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com