Bank of Ireland is in the process of selling its majority stake in Guggenheim Alternative Asset Management to the hedge fund's minority shareholders, as the bank sheds the last vestiges of its US asset-management business after sustaining debilitating outflows during the financial crisis.

The move follows the bank's sale in June of its wholly-owned US equity firm Iridian Asset Management in a management buy-out.

It is understood the Guggenheim sale is underway and awaiting approval from the principals in Guggenheim Partners, which together with the firm's management hold 28.5% of the company.

The sales are part of an overall strategy to dispose of non-core assets, especially in foreign jurisdictions. Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), which controlled Guggenheim and Iridian, had lost $27bn – or 90% – of its assets under management by the middle of 2008 and had effectively ceased operating. The bank is also looking for a buyer for its joint-venture stake in private equity and wealth advisory company Paul Capital Partners to complete the wind-up.

Bank of Ireland bought Guggenheim in 2005 for $184m when the "fund of hedge funds" had $2.8bn in assets under management. Iridian had assets under management of $5.4bn in March.

A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland declined to disclose the terms of either the Guggenheim or Iridian deals, but the values of each business had been almost completely written down.

Bank of Ireland took a €300m goodwill impairment charge on its US asset-management investments in its accounts to the end of March 2009. The bank said in February that the deterioration in global equity markets had resulted in increased fund outflows and significant falls in the value of assets under management in its asset-management businesses, which negatively impacted valuations and reduced the carrying value of the investments.