(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc is nearing a deal to acquire Kensington Mortgage’s lending platform for specialized mortgage loans, according to people familiar with the matter.
Barclays is in exclusive talks and a deal could be reached in the coming weeks, they said, asking not to be identified because the talks are still private. Any deal could value the business at more than £400 million ($500 million), the people said.
Kensington’s owners, private equity giant Blackstone Inc. and Sixth Street, are also selling the remaining part of the business, which is a run-off portfolio. Blackstone and private equity house TPG acquired Kensington from South African bank Investec Plc in 2014, when Sixth Street was part of TPG.
Blackstone, Kensington and Sixth Street declined to comment. Barclays didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The preference is to announce both deals at the same time, the people said. No final agreement has been reached and talks could still fall apart or be delayed, they said.
Specialist mortage lender Kensington targets the self-employed, those with multiple incomes and the over 55s, according to its website, cohorts that major banks often struggle to reach. It is the most frequent issuer of mortgage bonds in the UK market and was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 2000 until 2007.
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