Lone Star, the US hedge fund, has halved its bid for a mortgage originator four months after the UK's Barclays Bank was successful in slashing by two thirds the purchase price of a sub-prime lender it agreed to buy.

The hedge fund agreed in June to buy Accredited Home Lenders for $400m (€297m), or $15.10 per share. Today the hedge fund sent a letter to the Accredited board offering to pay $8.50 per share, a premium of 35% over the last closing price.