Bidders for student loans announced

A SHORTLIST of successful bidders for the government's Pounds 1.6 billion sale of student debt was announced this week. They are: a consortium of Barclays Bank, BZW and Goldman Sachs; JP Morgan; a consortium of NatWest Markets and UBS; and a consortium of Sallie Mae, which is the largest purchaser of student loans in the United States, and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. All must submit final bids by January 16 and the sale agreement will be signed the following month. Another Pounds 1.5 billion sale will take place in the next financial year.