Private equity asset sell-off

Banks burdened with assets they were forced to acquire when loans went bad during the financial crisis, are looking to offload many of them, which is a major opportunity for private equity.

So says Electra Private Equity, the investment trust chaired by former City regulator Colette Bowe.

Deputy managing partner Tim Syder said: "We are beginning to see is a major shift of assets away from banks. They are also selling their non-core businesses."

Examples include Lloyds selling eSure and Royal Bank of Scotland moving to offload Direct Line.

Mr Syder insists Electra will look for assets where the underlying business is good even if the finances are not.