U.S.-based bond fund manager Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC, or Pimco, is among bidders interested in acquiring the final tranche of loans held by UK Asset Resolution Ltd., the bad bank that took over the assets of collapsed firms Bradford & Bingley PLC and NRAM Ltd. post the financial crisis in 2008, Sky News reported.
Pimco is expected to submit an offer for the roughly £5 billion portfolio of mortgages and other loans in the week of Sept. 2, the news agency noted. Cerberus Capital Management LP is also expected to be interested in the portfolio.
UKAR and its advisers at Credit Suisse are expected to close a deal before the end of 2019, which would allow the U.K. Treasury to complete the disposal of its remaining interest in the bad bank ahead of a self-imposed deadline in 2020, Sky News said.
Following the sale, a corporate entity containing various pension scheme assets will remain, with the assets to be managed by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In June, UKAR CEO Ian Hares said the bad bank fully repaid government loans from the U.K. Treasury of £48.7 billion, following the sale of two portfolios previously managed by NRAM.
