Bank of Ireland is preparing to sell its remaining $1.8 billion US property loan book after regulators ordered it to shrink its balance sheet.
The bank expects to hire advisers in the middle of this week to oversee the sale, spokeswoman Anne Mathews said.
The unit, run by a seven-person team, manages commercial real-estate loans in New York City, Washington and Boston.
The US sale is part of the group's recently announced three-year deleveraging plan, Ms Mathews said. The lender expects to complete the divestment this year.
Bank of Ireland was told in March to reduce its loan book by about €30 billion, or 26 per cent, by the end of 2013.
Chief executive Richie Boucher said last month that the company will sell about €10 billion of loans and wind down other holdings, including UK broker-sourced residential mortgages, to meet the target.
The bank last month put on sale its stake in Burdale Finance Ltd, a British asset-based lender that oversees about €800 million of loans. Bank of Ireland is also selling its international project finance division, which manages about €2.7 billion of loans.
Bloomberg
