Intesa Sanpaolo SpA CEO Carlo Messina said the Italian bank is in discussions with several institutions regarding a potential partial sale of its bad-debt portfolio, Reuters reported.

Messina, who was speaking to reporters outside an event in the U.K., said there was no deadline or certainty that a deal would be reached. Intesa Sanpaolo intends to halve its nonperforming loan portfolio to €26.4 billion under its four-year strategic plan, with Messina noting the bank could achieve that without a strategic partner.

However, he added that Intesa Sanpaolo would make a deal if it found a partner that would enable the lender to accelerate debt collection, work on unsecured loans and allow it to sell the NPL portfolio at book value.