Permanent TSB Group Holdings Plc dropped out of the running to buy a portfolio of up to €100 million in performing mortgages from Australian financial firm Pepper, The Irish Times reported Dec. 12, without citing sources.

Pepper bought the loans four years ago as part of its acquisition of €600 million of mainly troubled debt from GE Capital for 40% of face value, the newspaper noted. Had Permanent TSB completed the deal, it would have been the lender's first such purchase since the Irish financial crisis.

Pepper and Goldman Sachs, which financed the portfolio acquisition, may seek to find another buyer, according to the report, which noted that the two companies hired KPMG earlier in 2016 to review options for a sale of a chunk of the loans.