The Co-op Bank has received interest from hedge funds that want to invest in the problem-hit lender.
At least half a dozen funds, including existing investors in the bank, are understood to be keen either to increase their stakes or to buy into the business, according to sources.
The hedge funds, which include Knighthead Capital, one of the Wall Street investors that bailed out the bank in 2013, have told the lender that they would support a future capital-raising if the shares were offered at a discount to the private market price.
A source with knowledge of the talks said that as many as six “mini-Goldmans”, a reference to the hedge funds’ links to Goldman Sachs, where many of their founders previously worked, have met