Spanish bank Sabadell is in talks to buy Northern Rock’s £13bn mortgage portfolio from UK Asset Resolution, the organisation in charge of disposing of the bad bank parts of both Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley.
The portfolio comprises some of the riskiest Northern Rock loans, known as Granite. Despite its size, the mixture of assets and liabilities means UKAR is likely to get only a few hundred million pounds from a sale. However, a sale would reduce taxpayer exposure to failed banks.
As well as Sabadell, the potential sale of Granite has attracted the interest of Blackstone, Citi, Goldman Sachs and Royal Bank of Scotland.
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The Independent, p. 56
