Bank Of Queensland Accepts Goldman Sachs Offer for Loans

   By Caroline Henshaw 
 

SYDNEY--Bank of Queensland (BOQ.AU) said Tuesday it has accepted a bid from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) for a portfolio of four commercial property loans worth a face value of 156 million Australian dollars (US$160.6 million).

The regional lender said at the end of last month that it had decided not to sell the whole of its A$230 million collection of impaired loans after offers made for the assets didn't live up to its expectations.

In Tuesday's statement to the exchange, Chief Executive Stuart Grimshaw said the revised offer from the investment bank, which includes three of the Bank of Queensland's largest impaired assets originally worth a total of A$156 million, was now at an "acceptable" price.

A spokeswoman declined to provide further details of the price paid by Goldman Sachs for the loans.

"The outlook continues to be challenging, with no material improvement in business conditions or the commercial and residential property markets yet evident," said Mr. Grimshaw in the statement.

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