A trinity of U.S. banks have won the bidding for Anglo Irish Bank's $9 billion US loan book at an average cost of about 80 cent in the dollar.

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Texas-based debt investor Lone Star beat off some of the largest US private equity firms in America to take control of one of the largest portfolios of loans to reach the American commercial property market in years.

The total price paid for the loans was between $7 billion and $8 billion, according to a report in the Irish Times this week. The sale price for the portfolio was higher than expected.

Final bids were submitted last week ahead of the winning tenders being chosen at the weekend, but deposits have yet to be paid and the deals are not expected to be finalized until later in the autumn.

The Irish Department of Finance and Anglo have declined to comment.
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The demand for the Anglo portfolio was robust given the bank had not syndicated the loans on to other lenders, creating an opportunity for buyers to seize control of the underlying properties.

The bank aggressively grew the portfolio during the peak years of the US property boom from 2005 to 2007, before heavy exposure to property lending (with most of its loan book being to builders and property developers) ensured it was badly affected by the downturn.