Many bidders seen on Anglo Irish US property loans

* Banks, private equity, others showing interest -sources

* First-round bids due Tuesday -sources

* Second-round bids due later this month -sources

* Global debt upheaval could shave bid prices

By Carmel Crimmins and Ilaina Jonas

DUBLIN/NEW YORK, Aug 5 (Reuters) - First-round bids for a $9.5 billion U.S. commercial real estate loan portfolio owned by failed lender Anglo Irish Bank [ANGIB.UL] are due on Tuesday and banks, private equity groups and other investors have shown interest, five sources familiar with the deal said on Friday.

But fear in the capital markets stemming from Europe's debt crisis could shave the offered prices as the uncertainty of the future of the markets and the properties' performances becomes more difficult to underwrite, said Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate, part of the Marshall School of Business.

"With nervousness, everybody's discount rate goes up and nobody knows exactly by how much. It makes it more difficult and likely makes it less valuable," Green said. "If I'm bidding for something where I'm really uncertain about its value, I'm not going to bid as much."

The sale has attracted strong interest as it is the largest U.S. commercial real estate loan portfolio to come up for sale in recent years. However, the portfolio has been broken up into eight separate pools to open it to smaller players, making it in essence eight separate sales.

The number of bidders is expected to be whittled down for a smaller second round by Aug. 23, a source not authorized to speak publicly about the bid said.

When the Irish bank first selected the broker Eastdil Secured LLC to sell the loans in June, the portfolio comprised about $10.5. billion in loans. Since then, many of the performing loans have been paid off or paid down or are being paid down, reducing the total over time.

The two leading contenders are a group led by private equity company Blackstone Group (BX.N) that includes Goldman Sachs [GSGSC.UL] and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) and one led by private equity firm TPG Capital [TPG.UL], two sources familiar with the deal said. The latter group includes LoanCare Capital; PIMCO, the world's largest bond fund; and real estate investment company Lubert Adler.

Lone Star Funds, a global distressed debt and equity investor, also is among the large bidders, two sources said.

The private equity groups are expected to be interested in the five pools of either non-performing loans or loans worth more than the properties.

The pools have also been split along the lines of real estate types -- hotels, apartments, condominiums, office and warehouses, according to an information sheet obtained by Reuters.

Another pool contains loans that are about equal to the value of the property but are still current.

The performing loans likely will attract banks, who will transfer the good loans onto their balance sheets.

Starwood Capital is another that is interested as part of a consortium, although the members of the consortium were not clear, said another source not authorized to speak on the record.

Torchlight Investors, an independent adviser focused on commercial real estate debt investments, also is a member of another consortium bidding on the portfolio, another source said.

Representatives from all of the potential bidders declined to comment or could not be reached for comment. Anglo Irish declined comment.

Anglo Irish was one of the most aggressive lenders during the U.S. commercial real estate boom of 2003-2007 but its risk strategy brought it and the Irish economy to the brink of collapse and forced Dublin to seek an 85 billion euros EU-IMF bailout last year.

Once the darling of the Irish stock market, Anglo Irish was nationalized in 2009 and is being wound down, having ceased lending and sold its deposits to former rivals.

Its U.S. portfolio is its premium stock of assets, and a successful sale would represent a huge boost for the Irish government, which has vowed to radically shrink its banking sector and reduce its reliance on emergency funding from the European Central Bank (ECB).

The loans to be sold are on a diverse group of more than 280 properties, including office buildings in Massachusetts and retail properties in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. It also includes apartment buildings in New York City and Boston, warehouses and gas stations in the Midwest, and hotels from Florida to Maine. (Reporting by Carmel Crimmins in Dublin and Ilaina Jonas in New York; Editing by Will Waterman)