Metro Bank has set a quickfire timetable for rivals to snap up a substantial chunk of its mortgage book.

Sky News understands that Metro Bank wants bidders to submit offers at the beginning of next month, with Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group all having an indicated an interest.

News of the timetable comes days after the high street bank said it had secured a £925m refinancing package, which involves the Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal becoming its majority shareholder.

Metro Bank had become the subject of questions about its survival after Sky News revealed this month that it had drafted in City advisers to raise hundreds of millions of pounds of new capital.

In total, it is raising about £150m of new equity and £175m of new debt, while it is also refinancing £600m of existing borrowings.

Analysts have questioned whether the mortgage book sale will have implications from a fair value accounting perspective, but Daniel Frumkin, Metro Bank’s chief executive, suggested last week that a sale would be wrapped up before the end of the year.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Metro Bank, which has about 2.7 million customers, became the first new lender to open on Britain’s high streets in over 100 years when it launched in 2010.

Troubled Metro Bank kicks off £3bn mortgage book sale

Metro Bank plots capital-raise in bid to allay City concerns

Monzo banks on revamp to pave way for international expansion

It offers current accounts, business accounts, personal loans and insurance products, and employs about 4,000 people, operating from about 75 branches across the country.

Metro Bank has been forced to sell assets in the past, announcing a deal in December 2020 to sell a portfolio of owner-occupied residential mortgages to NatWest Group for up to £3.1bn.

Metro Bank declined to comment on the mortgage book bid deadline.

Related posts:

Barbecues threatened as gas cylinder shortage ‘exacerbated by pingdemic’ Funeralcare provider’s husband-and-wife team eye £400m windfall John Lewis restores annual bonus and makes wage commitment as cost of living surges Postal strike looms as Royal Mail workers back walkouts in pay and jobs row UK has lost credibility among investors and the ‘bond vigilantes’ serve as a warning Netflix declares itself de facto winner of streaming war Forecasts, though routinely wrong, are still worth listening to Wage growth at fastest rate in 20 years, though failing to keep up with inflation Train drivers’ union rejects pay offer and members will go ahead with fresh strike action Britishvolt collapse should spark debate on whether it was actually needed Does drive for truce amount to takeover of professional golf by Saudi Arabia? Why are fuel prices on the rise and will they come down?