Reports: Temasek, Lord Davies-led Group Among Those Eying Lloyds Stake

(RTTNews) - Singapore's state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. as well as a consortium led by former Standard Chartered Chairman Lord Mervyn Davies are currently eying stakes in British lender Lloyds Banking Group plc (LYG, LLOY.L), according to media reports on Sunday.

The British government is selling the 39 percent stake it has been holding in Lloyds since it bailed out the banking group following the troubled takeover of HBOS during the 2008 banking crisis. The stake is currently valued at about 18 billion British pounds.

The consortium led by Davies reportedly includes New York-based private-equity firm Corsair Capital LLC, Standard Life Plc and sovereign wealth funds from Norway, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kuwait.

Temasek is reportedly looking to acquire only a 10 percent stake in Llyods which is valued at about 4.6 billion pounds, while the Davies led consortium could be looking for a larger stake valued at about 10 billion pounds.

U.K. Financial Investments Ltd., which holds the British government's stake in Lloyds along with the stake in Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS, RBS.L), had last month invited offers from banks to manage the sale of its holdings in the two financial firms. It had set a deadline of Monday for investment banks to submit proposals for managing the sale, with UBS, Credit Suisse, Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch seen as frontrunners.

Meanwhile, RBS was rescued by means of a 45 billion pounds bailout in 2008, following its ill-timed purchase of Dutch bank ABN Amro. The British government holds an 81 percent stake in RBS.

The government is set to start the process of selling its stake in the lenders by early 2014, expecting to finish the process ahead of the 2015 general elections. Lloyds has been grappling with tough times after its merger with HBOS during the 2008 economic crisis.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne noted last month that the first sale of the government's stake in Lloyds is likely to be an institutional one, but for subsequent disposals the government will consider all options, including a retail offering to the general public.

LYG closed Friday's regular trading session at $3.90, up $0.02 or 0.52% on a volume of 2.23 million shares.

On the London stock exchange, LLOY.L closed at 64.63 pence, down 1.23 pence or 1.87% on a volume of 155.29 million shares.