TOKYO-- Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is in advanced talks with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group to buy its U.S. loan assets, according to people familiar with the matter.

The value of the deal will likely be worth several billion dollars, one of the people said.

An official announcement is likely to come soon, the people said.

If the sale comes to pass, it would be the latest move by the British bank, which is 80% controlled by the U.K. government, to scale back on its global operations. For Mizuho, the move would help it expand its lending operations in North America.

Faced with sluggish domestic lending demand, and with profitability low as a result of the Bank of Japan keeping interest rates near zero, deep-pocketed Japanese banks have a powerful incentive to broaden their horizons overseas.

While they are beefing up their businesses particularly in Asia, they are also checking out assets and operations put up for sale by European rivals that are trying to cut back their riskier businesses to comply with tighter capital rules being phased in world-wide.

Write to Atsuko Fukase at atsuko.fukase@wsj.com

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