Barclays to sell 4 bln stg of credit assets - FT

LONDON Oct 12 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc (BARC.L)(BCS.N) is planning to spin off a 4-billion-pound ($6.35 billion) portfolio of complex credit assets as it presses ahead with a process to clean up its balance sheet, the Financial Times said on Monday.

The daily said the spin-off would also ease shareholder concerns over its investments.

Barclays officials were unavailable for immediate comment.

The Financial Times quoted people familiar with the matter as saying the bank was looking at a deal similar to a transaction announced last month in which it said it would restructure billions of dollars of credit market assets through the establishment and sale of assets to a new vehicle.

Barclays said last month that new fund, called Protium, would be supported by new funding and a multibillion-dollar loan by Barclays.

Those assets would remain on balance sheet, but Barclays said it was seeking to restructure a significant tranche of credit market exposures in a way that would secure more stable risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders over time.

It would also bring in investors with an appetite to share risk exposure to the assets, and who would share the cash flows arising from the assets. (Reporting by Christopher Johnson; Editing by Jan Paschal )