RBS Has Received a Handful of Bids for Spanish Real Estate Loans

By Marietta Cauchi, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) has received a handful of bids for the GBP400 million worth of risky Spanish real estate loans, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley (MS), which is handling the sale, received the initial proposals at the end of last week and the bank is considering the proposals before fixing a date for the second round.
The package is part of a GBP1 billion portfolio of Spanish real estate loans which has been split in two -- the balance is made up of less risky assets which will be sold at a later stage.
Likely bidders for the Spanish portfolio include Blackstone Group (BX), Cerberus Capital Management and Apollo Management. Lone Star, Goldman Sachs (GS) Whitehall and Morgan Stanley's real estate fund could also be interested.