SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Popular, Inc. announced today an agreement to sell loan and servicing assets of its U.S. mortgage subsidiary Popular Financial Holdings to various Goldman Sachs affiliates. The sale includes approximately $1,170 million in loans and mortgage servicing assets. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008, will provide more than $700 million in additional liquidity and significantly reduce Popular's U.S. subprime assets. Popular expects to report a loss of approximately $450 million in connection with the transaction.
"We are continuing to narrow the scope of our mainland U.S. operations that are most exposed to the credit and mortgage markets, by leveraging on our core strengths in Puerto Rico, where we are the undisputed market leader. Indeed, our core retail banking franchise in Puerto Rico is strong and continues to perform well," said Richard L. Carrion, Chairman, President and CEO of Popular, Inc.
