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LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Former Standard Chartered chief executive Mervyn Davies is forming a consortiumof sovereign wealth funds and financial institutions to buy asmuch as half of Britain's 20 billion pound ($29.77 billion)stake in Lloyds Banking Group, Sky News reported.
Davies approached Britain's Treasury several months agoabout his plan to buy as much as half of the British taxpayer's39 percent share in Lloyds, Sky said on Saturday citinginsiders.
U.S. private equity firm Corsair Capital, where Davies is apartner, will be part of the consortium but will not buy thestake on its own, Sky said, adding the deal will be structuredto acquire the Lloyds stake close to the current share price.
Shares in Lloyds closed at 6463 pence on Friday, valuing thebank at about 47 billion pounds.
Sky said investors such as Standard Life Investments had been approached about participating in the deal, while banksHSBC and JP Morgan were helping Davies structure andfinance the transaction.
The broadcaster said the exact size of the stake theconsortium would buy was unclear but that it was likely to bemuch larger than 10 percent or a quarter of the Britishgovernment's share.
Lloyds, Corsair Capital and Standard Life Investmentsdeclined to comment. Britain's Treasury was not immediatelyavailable for comment.
More than a dozen top banks are finalising plans to run the20 billion pound share sale in part-nationalised Lloyds, in whatis one of the most prestigious British deals in recent years,and need to pitch by Monday to handle the government's stakesale.
