Lloyds sells £2.6bn of Irish loans

Lloyds Banking Group has agreed the sale of a portfolio of Irish commercial loans to a consortium including Goldman Sachs and Bank of Ireland for a cash consideration of around £827m.

The gross assets subject to the transaction are around £2.6bn, of which £2.3bn were impaired.

The sale proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on the group but will be capital accretive, the company said.

The deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2015.