UK state-controlled lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold a portfolio of Spanish mortgage loans with a face value of EUR 290 mln to US private equity firm Perella Weinberg, PropertyEU has learned. The loan portfolio was sold for EUR 160 mln in cash, or a discount to face value of 45%, sources say.

RBS had hired Morgan Stanley in late 2010 to sell a £1 bn portfolio of Spanish loans in a bid to limit its exposure to the market. Goldman Sachs, Lone Star and private equity group Blackstone were mentioned at the time as potential buyers.

RBS' corporate loan portfolio in Spain is still on the market.

Last month RBS designated 52% of its £87 bn (EUR 102 bn) commercial real estate lending portfolio as 'non-core' which is earmarked for repayment or sale by 2014. The financier reduced its overall loan book by about 11% last year from £98 bn (EUR 115 bn) in 2009.