Start Mortgages, a specialist lender for those with bad credit histories, could soon have a new parent company. This follows press reports that Kensington, a UK financial institution that owns 65 per cent of Start, is up for sale.

Kensington is reported to have engaged NM Rothschild to advise on a sale with Bank of America, Wachovia and General Electric (GE) all believed to be interested in acquiring the group, which suffered reduced profitability last year as a result of increased competition in the UK.

In a statement to the stock market yesterday, Kensington said it was considering "the best options" to maximise shareholder value. "There can be no certainty that it will lead to an offer for the company," it added.

Start, which is headed by David Ingram and employs 100 staff, declined to comment.

Start was founded in December 2004 by Kensington and five Irish executives who had left GE and own 35 per cent of the equity. Kensington has an option to buy out their stake within three years.

Start has so far issued more than €1 billion in loans in the sub-prime market.

In 2006, the company is believed to have written about €680 million worth of mortgages, about three times the level of GE, its main competitor here.

The sub-prime market in Ireland is forecast to exceed €4 billion a year by 2010. Permanent TSB recently set up a joint venture with Merrill Lynch, IIB Bank has linked up with Lehman Brothers and a new Irish company called Nua is being backed by Investec of South Africa.