HBOS to sell stakes in private firms portfolio

HBOS signage outside the EICC building, ahead of their AGM today, in Edinburgh, Scotland June 26, 2008.

LONDON (Reuters) - HBOS HBOS.L, the biggest home lender, said on Sunday it is selling a 400 million pound portfolio of investments in British private companies.

The company has asked investment bank UBS (UBSN.VX) to raise a fund from private investors to acquire parts of HBOS's stakes in firms such as housing renovator Keepmoat, an HBOS spokesman said.

The spokesman said HBOS' Bank of Scotland unit had made equity investments in a range of companies for a number of years, and it opens up a number of the holdings to other investors each year.

"This approach crystallises value for the group on an ongoing basis," he said.

He added that the current project had been planned for more than a year.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sue Thomas)