Goldman Sachs, hired to help arrange financing to rescue Northern Rock, is now seeking investors in China and the Middle East to help fund a takeover, a source familiar with the situation said.
The funds sought would be in addition to the £15 billion sterling (€20 billion) already committed by Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup, the source said.
Finance minister Alistair Darling has told Goldman Sachs, advisor to the government on the possible sale, that Britain has no objections to sovereign wealth funds being included in any financing solution, The Guardian newspaper reported today.
Northern Rock, the Treasury and advisers are trying to reach a solution for Britain's highest-profile casualty of the credit crunch by the end of this month.
Citigroup and Blackstone, the US private equity firm with a significant presence in China, are advising the company.
Goldman Sachs is in talks with two rival consortia led by investment groups Virgin and Olivant, but extended turbulence in credit markets has raised concerns that suitors will struggle to finance a deal.
The Sunday Times, however, reported last weekend that a deal on a £15 billion financing package was close to being reached by Goldman, reviving optimism.
A sale may be threatened by Northern Rock shareholders, who are meeting in an extraordinary general meeting on January 15th.
An announcement about the financing or the preferred bidders could be made before then, the source said.
Northern Rock shares were up 0.8 per cent at 90 pence in early trade.