More suitors circling Solihull's Paragon

Jul 23 2008

The private equity firm behind last month’s abandoned rescue of Bradford & Bingley was linked to the buyout of Solihull-based buy-to-let lender Paragon (PAG).

TPG Capital, which dramatically pulled out of its £179 million bail-out following a Bradford & Bingley ratings downgrade, is one of the firms interested in Paragon, according to reports.

TPG is the second major US private equity house to be linked to the troubled lender. On Tuesday Blackstone was reported to be another interested party.

Paragon, which specialises in lending to professional landlords, confirmed on Tuesday that it was in exploratory talks.

The announcement sent Paragon’s shares soaring, closing up 31 per cent on Tuesday.

Paragon’s value had plummeted by nearly 90 per cent since last August as frozen money markets around the world severely hampered its ability to write new mortgages.