RBS teams up with investors to lend to private equity-backed UK firms

LONDON (Reuters) - State-backed lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has teamed up with a trio of big investment firms to lend up to 100 million pounds to mid-sized British companies that are backed by private equity firms.

RBS said on Monday it had signed up with AIG Asset Management, Hermes Investment Management and M&G Investments to provide the funding.

RBS will originate, lead and coordinate the deals, which can be co-funded by all four lenders. It marks the entrance of AIG , Hermes and M&G into the private equity-backed UK mid-sized corporate finance market.

RBS, which is 73 percent owned by the UK government and is reducing its balance sheet around the world to focus on its core domestic markets, said it would typically provide 15–30 million of its own capital in a single transaction.

RBS said it had already completed three transactions under the agreements, totalling abound 250 million pounds, for loans to UK companies in the IT software services, laundry services and restaurant sectors.

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Mark Potter)