UPDATE 1-SNS Reaal unit in talks to sell private banking
* In talks with Dutch rival Bank ten Cate
* Private banking operations employ 25 people
* SNS Reaal shares up 1.8 pct, outperform midcap index (Adds detail)
AMSTERDAM, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Troubled Dutch bank and insurance group SNS Reaal said on Friday its brokerage subsidiary SNS Securities is in talks to sell its private banking operations to local rival Bank ten Cate.
The private banking business employs about 25 people, SNS Reaal said, but a spokesman declined to give details on its financial performance.
Bank ten Cate manages more than 1 billion euros for its clients, and employs about 35 people, a spokesman for the company said.
SNS Reaal, which is struggling with losses on property loans, said in November that it expected to announce restructuring measures, possibly including asset sales, a share issue, and the conversion of state aid into shares, early this year.
Analysts expect SNS Reaal to require a second Dutch state bailout after booking more than 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of net losses on its property loans since 2009.
The Dutch government pumped 750 million euros in the company in 2008 at the height of the credit crisis.