The remnants of HBOS’s disastrous investment portfolio could be sold this week.

HBOS Integrated Finance, the failed bank’s collection of investments in companies such as Vue cinemas, is expected to fetch about £500 million.

At its peak the portfolio, part of the corporate finance division run by Peter Cummings, was estimated to be worth £1.4 billion.

Coller Capital, a private equity firm specialising in buying holdings that have turned sour for rival investors, is believed to be in pole position. The only other remaining bidder is thought to be 3i. Lexington Partners pulled out last week.

The investments are being sold by Lloyds Banking Group, which acquired HBOS at the height of the credit crunch in September 2008. Fears about the health of the portfolio were one of the main reasons for the bank’s collapse.

Lloyds put the portfolio up for sale in November 2008 but has failed to find a buyer until now. The price mooted is higher than originally expected. It is understood that many of the underlying businesses in the portfolio are in good condition.

Mr Cummings and his right-hand man Graeme Shankland bought into 60 businesses during an eight-year spree in which HBOS issued debt to companies in exchange for equity. Only 45 stakes will be included in the imminent sale as some have already been sold. Visage, a clothing importer and designer in South Shields, was recently sold for £173m to a Hong Kong company.