Barclays Reportedly to Sell $6.3B Portfolio

LONDON (TheStreet) -- Barclays(BCS Quote) is planning to spin off a 4 billion pound ($6.3 billion) portfolio of complex credit assets as it is in the process of cleaning up its balance sheet and easing shareholder concerns over its investments, the Financial Times reports.

The current clean-up is similar to the one that the bank undertook last month with a portfolio of 12.3 billion pounds that was sold to Protium Finance, a fund run by former staff of the British bank.

People familiar with Barclays' thinking told the Financial Times that it was looking at two options for a sale of the assets of 4 billion pounds -- either a replica of the Protium deal that would see Barclays traders leave with the portfolio, or a divestment to a third-party buyer.

The portfolio is made up of collateralized loan obligations.