PTSB sells UK loan book to complete EU deleveraging plan

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's permanent tsb (PTSB) said it has sold its remaining UK mortgage portfolio for 1.95 billion pounds ($2.38 billion) to complete a deleveraging programme agreed with the European Union. The sale of the final 50 percent of Capital Home Loans' (CHL) mortgage portfolio, to Cerberus Capital Management, completes an 8.4 billion euro deleveraging programme agreed with the EU and the proceeds will be used to reduce borrowings, the lender said on Thursday. Cerberus, an active buyer of troubled British and Irish loans, also bought the other half of CHL's assets in 2015. The sale of the remaining half "will complete our pivot to the Irish retail marketplace and allow us to focus exclusively on growing our commercial position in key segments of the [Irish] market," tsb Chief Executive Jeremy Masding said in a statement. He described the deal as a milestone for the lender, which is still 75 percent owned by the Irish government after being rescued during the financial crisis. The government plans to sell its stake but has not set a timeframe. PTSB sold loans with a book value of 2.29 billion pounds for approximately 1.95 billion pounds, it said in a statement. Investment bank Investec said the gross proceeds for the sale of the remaining stake in CHL suggested a 15 percent discount to book value, within but at the high end of previous management guidance. Thomson Reuters publication IFR reported earlier this month that Cerberus was the front runner for the sale. ($1 = 0.8180 pounds) (THis version of the story has been corrected to show price paid for loans to 1.95 billion pounds, paragraph 1, adds book value of the loans, paragraph 6) (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Susan Fenton)