U.S. private-equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co. and Cerberus Capital Management LP have agreed to buy German lender HSH Nordbank for up to €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in a deal to be announced as early as next week, people involved in the matter said. The bank, owned by the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, is racing to find a buyer by the end of February or face liquidation, after suffering massive losses on non-performing shipping loans. Flowers already owns about 5% of HSH.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 22, 2018 14:48 UTC