Lloyds TSB is reportedly close to putting its closed life insurance business Abbey Life up for sale with an asking price of around £1bn. 

According to the Mail on Sunday, Lloyds has instructed investment bankers to draw up a sales prospectus and source potential buyers for the business, with first round offers expected within the next few weeks.

Abbey Life, which closed to new business in 2000, has policyholder assets of around £12bn and according to the paper, a sale would be likely to attract “considerable interest”. Resolution, Swiss Re and Pearl Group are among those tipped as potential buyers. 

Lloyds TSB has so far remained silent about the speculation, but is likely to be under pressure to comment over the future of both Abbey Life and life assurance arm Scottish Widows when it releases its full year results on Friday this week.