Banking titan Lloyds (LON:LLOY) nudged higher in early deals as it sought to reduce its risk exposure by offloading a portfolio of Irish commercial loans for around £827mln.
The sale is to a consortium comprising Ennis Property Finance, an entity affiliated to Goldman Sachs, Feniton Property Finance, affiliated to CarVal, and Bank of Ireland.
The sale of the £2.6bn of assets, of which £2.3bn were impaired in 2014, is in line with the bank's strategy of de-leveraging its balance sheet by reducing run-off assets and creating a low risk, UK-focused bank, it said, adding it expected to complete the deal in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Following the transaction, the group will have minimal remaining exposure to commercial assets in Ireland of less than £30 million.
Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Lloyds.
Shares added 0.89% to 86.36p.