Metro Bank revives £3bn mortgage sale - report

(Sharecast News) - Metro Bank is reportedly reviving plans to offload a multibillion pound mortgage months after an investor bailout rescued it from the brink of collapse. According to Sky News, the high street lender is working with Morgan Stanley on a process to raise capital from the sale of the mortgages.

City sources told Sky the size of the portfolio had yet to be finalised, with one adviser suggesting it could be closer to £4bn than £3bn.

Indicative offers are said to have been due for the portfolio several days ago.

The revival of the process comes four months after Metro Bank said it was cutting 1,000 jobs and ending its seven-day branch opening model in an effort to exert tighter control of costs.

Last October, the company secured a £925m lifeline which saw it raise about £150m of new equity and £175m of new debt, while refinancing £600m of existing borrowings.

The rescue package saw the Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal becoming its majority shareholder.

Metro Bank had been in exclusive negotiations to sell a £3bn mortgage book to Barclays but ended the discussions in December after failing to agree a price for the assets.

Suitors for its mortgage portfolio were unclear on Monday, but are expected to include large British retail banks.