Barclays Bank has sold its UK secured lending unit to a group of investors led by Goldman Sachs, as part of its strategy to dispose of non-core assets and boost profitability.
The group of buyers also includes Elderbridge, part of servicing and software firm Target Group, and UK private equity firm Pollen Street Capital.
The loans forms part of Barclays’ non-core assets, which it intends to sell or run down. The British lender inherited the loans from its acquisition of Woolwich in 2003.
Barclays did not disclose the value of the deal, but said that it would reduce its risk-weighted assets by a further £1.2bn.
Barclays chairman John McFarlane said: "We continue to make solid progress in divesting assets from Barclays Non-Core.
"The sale of UK Secured Lending is further evidence of our ability to reduce these legacy assets, as we target a Risk Weighted Assets figure of around £20bn in 2017."
