LONDON (Reuters) – Virgin Money could announce it is buying a small UK bank as early as this month, sources familiar with the situation said, a move that could make it the first high-profile arrival in the sector in Britain since the crisis.

Virgin Money, the consumer credit arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has been one of several names mentioned as potential new entrants as rescued UK lenders sell off assets and nationalised mortgage bank Northern Rock is prepared for sale.

The acquisition — a toehold in the sector expected to total around 50 million pounds ($80.5 million), including a capital injection to meet regulatory requirements — could be announced “within weeks,” and the group could receive the necessary regulatory approval around the same time, the sources said.

Completion of the deal would take several weeks longer. The target is not expected to be listed, one of the sources said.

One source familiar with the procedure, however, cautioned regulatory approval to take on a deposit-taking institution, virtually as complex as the process of applying for a banking licence from scratch, could take over a year, a delay that would not bring Virgin Bank into existence before the fourth quarter.

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