specialist credit organisation to concentrate on its core activities, Mairi Mallon writes .

The bank announced it had sold Davenham Group Plc on Friday, stating it had been bought out by a consortium led by Davenham's management and supported by Dunedin Capital Partners Limited and Indigo Capital Limited.

The group, which also took over control of Davenham's subsidiaries, acquired the business at net asset value plus a modest premium for goodwill.

The bank said that all inter-company loans and funding lines had been repaid.

The Davenham Group Plc was acquired by Bank of Butterfield in 1996 and has shown consistent growth and increases in profitability.

The bank said that despite the satisfactory performance of Davenham the Company, Bank of Butterfield decided to exit the specialist credit business to concentrate on core activities.

Graham Brooks, Executive Vice President, International & Trust said that the sale of Davenham is in line with Bank of Butterfield's strategy of building on its strengths and focussing on core businesses.