Wednesday, 17 November 2010

RBS sells off energy loan book

Royal Bank of Scotland has reached an agreement with a Japanese lender to sell a project finance portfolio worth nearly £4bn.
By Harry Wilson 7:00AM GMT 16 Nov 2010

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) is paying an undisclosed price for a £3.8bn portfolio of loans to a range of power and natural resource projects.

The deal follows speculation last month that a sale of the loans, which are to European, African and Middle Eastern infrastructure projects, would be announced imminently.

BTMU said the acquisition of the RBS loan book would "significantly strengthen" its business in the regions as the Japanese financial group looks to become one of the world's leading project finance banks.