Legal & General (L&G) is drawing up plans to sell Cala Group, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, marking the first significant strategic move by its new chief executive.

Sky News has learnt that L&G is lining up bankers at Rothschild to oversee a sale of the company.

City insiders said that Cala was likely to be valued at up to £750m in a sale.

The move comes just weeks after Antonio Simoes, a former HSBC and Santander executive, replaced Sir Nigel Wilson, one of Britain’s most prominent business leaders, as L&G’s chief executive.

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Mr Simoes described Cala as “a very strong business” during an earnings call last month on which he was quizzed about the housebuilder’s future ownership.

Last month, L&G sought to deny any intention to sell the business, which it took full control of in 2018, in response to an enquiry from Sky News.

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Cala reported a slide in half-year profits last autumn, citing a “challenging market”.

The company has a long-term goal to build 3,000 homes annually.

It was not among eight housebuilders named by the Competition and Markets Authority in February over suspicions they had exchanged commercially sensitive information.

L&G was contacted for comment on Monday.

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