Branson expects N. Rock response in a week

By Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Billionaire Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group is leading a rescue bid for Northern Rock Plc NRK.L, expects to hear from the troubled British lender on the proposal in about a week, he said on Tuesday.

Branson said in an interview that he hopes the multibillion-pound takeover plan, in which U.S. insurer AIG (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is also a partner, results in Northern Rock shareholders reaping some benefits in the new organization.

He also said his Virgin Money financial services arm's plan aims to preserve all the jobs at Northern Rock, Britain's fifth-largest mortgage lender.

"I think that Virgin Money could save this bank," he said in Calgary, Alberta, where he announced the city will be the site of a Virgin Music Festival in 2008.

"We've been working hard on it in the last month and I think we have a pretty good shot at pulling it off. We'll know better in the next week," he said, referring to the Northern Rock plan.

Under the proposal, the Virgin-led group would keep Northern Rock's public listing and be renamed Virgin Money or possibly, he said, "Virgin Rocks."

"Virgin Money would reverse into the current public company," Branson said. "We're obviously hopeful the current shareholders will benefit from taking shares in the brand that is the No. 1 most respected brand in the U.K., and all the expertise that goes with that."

A victim of the global credit crunch, Northern Rock has been enveloped in crisis over the past month as it became the first target of a run on a U.K. bank in 140 years.