Boxclever set to be sold at big loss

TROUBLED German bank WestLB is poised to sell its Boxclever TV rental operation at a loss of hundreds of millions of pounds.

Private equity firms Fortress Investor Group LLC and Cerberus Capital are understood to be buying Boxclever, the former Radio Rentals business which includes a TV rental and bankrupt servicing business.

A bank spokesman said negotiations for the sale were "very far advancedî and confirmation of the deal was imminent. The disposal is understood to be for about e200m(£140m) - a loss of some e600m according to Germany's Sueddeutsche newspaper.

Boxclever was a deal too far for the bank and contributed to the departure of London-based WestLB executive Robin Saunders from its Principal Finance Unit. It also plunged the bank into a regulatory probe that is still continuing.

The Principal Finance Unit hit the rocks after a £750m Boxclever financing deal arranged by WestLB unravelled and was a major contributor to the bank's e1.3bn loss in 2002.

Boxclever is controlled by WestLB and bondholders French bank CDC IXIS and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.