Troubled British lender Northern Rock has agreed to sell £2.2 billion of its mortgage assets to a US investment bank.
The bank said it would use the funds, which represent 2% of the bank's total assets, to reduce the more than £25 billion of emergency loans from the Bank of England.
Northern Rock said the price Wall Street giant JP Morgan is paying represents a 2.25% premium - £50m - over the value of the assets.
The lender had to turn to the Bank of England in September last year when its business model collapsed amid the global credit crunch. The British government is trying to find a buyer for the bank.
Yesterday British Chancellor Alistair Darling conceded that it 'may not be possible' to find a private buyer for the bank. He told MPs that all options, including nationalisation, remain on the table.
