Lloyds Banking Group on Wednesday said it agreed to sell a £1.05 billion ($1.6 billion) private equity portfolio to Coller Capital as part of a move to reduce Lloyds' non-core assets.
Coller International Partners VI, which closed earlier this year with $5.5 billion in commitments, will pay £1.03 billion for the portfolio, which includes an additional £220 million of undrawn commitments. Investors in that fund include the $83 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board, $15 billion New Mexico State Investment Council and $8.8 billion Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System.
Lloyds took on the assets as part of its 2009 acquisition of HBOS PLC, spokesman Ian Kitts said.
“This transaction is in line with (Lloyds Banking) Group's strategy of derisking its balance sheet and reducing its non-core assets,” according to a Lloyds news release.
Lloyds will continue to manage the assets following the sale in return for a management fee of less than £10 million a year.
Efforts to reach officials at Coller Capital were unsuccessful.
