BANKING

NatWest Plans to Sell U.S. Unit: National Westminster, confirming days of rumors, said it is holding talks to sell its National Westminster Bancorp retail banking operation, a move that would reverse 25 years of expansion for the British bank in the United States. The bank said it named Goldman, Sachs & Co. as its adviser. Industry analysts said the parent company is concerned that the $31-billion asset unit will be unable to keep pace with the mega-bank trend taking shape in the United States. They said the unit could fetch $4 billion to $6 billion if sold now. The unit lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the early 1990s but had a pretax profit of $217.5 million for the first half of this year. Some analysts said that since NatWest is seeking cash for the operation, the list of possible buyers would probably be short. The unit has about 330 branches in New York and New Jersey.