Lloyds TSB looking at the sale of HBOS joint-venture division
In a sign that the Lloyds TSB is more certain than ever before that the purchase of HBOS will go through it appears that the company has been looking at ways of disposing of HBOS's joint-venture division. This is a division which has grown over the years to include equity holdings and financial obligations to 70 of the U.K.'s best-known companies. The list of companies includes the likes of Caffe Nero and David Lloyd Leisure to name but a few.
It looks as though Lloyds TSB wants to retain as much of the banking operations as possible and spin-off the likes of the joint-venture division and other peripheral operations which are not central to the business. Talks appear to have started with NM Rothschild's although there is no news on how these have gone so far of how they are expected to proceed.
The operation which is for sale appears to account for £4.5 billion of HBOS's current £110 billion of loans outstanding. The opportunity to take £4.5 billion of loans off the balance sheet would further strengthen the overall group and limit any further liability in the future.
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