Tag: York Capital

Vittoria Assicurazioni completed two acquisitions from York Capital and Stoneweg for 400 million in total

16 May, Il Sole 24 Ore

Vittoria Assicurazioni has recently completed an acquisition from York Capital and Stoneweg for a total value of 400 million euro. The operation concerns two assets in Rome and Monza and a 51% share in the Pegasus Fund, which holds the Eni HQ Palazzo Quinto in San Donato Milanese.

Meanwhile, York Capital and Stoneweg acquired from Vittoria Assicurazioni four real estate developments. The four projects consist of 60 units in Parma, two complexes in Rome, and 200 units already built in Peschiera Borromeo (Milan).

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Milan: York Capital acquired the assets of Porta Vittoria through the fund Niche

23 May, Bebeez

The fund Niche, managed by Prelios, completed the acquisition of the assets related to the bankruptcy of Porta Vittoria Spa. The fund is entirely underwritten by York Capital, which will complete the development of the 139 thousand Sq m area. The project implies the creation of over 160 apartments covering a surface of 23 thousand Sq m.

Source: Bebeez

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Milan: Prelios acquired Porta Vittoria through Fondo Niche

23 May, Il Sole 24 Ore

Prelios has recently completed the acquisition of the assets of Porta Vittoria in Milan through the alternative real estate investment fund Niche, which sees York Capital as one of its indirect investors.

The fund has acquired the credits held by Banco Bpm and will proceed to complete the development of the 139 thousand euro/Sq m area mainly for residential use.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

The Court of Milan assigned Porta Vittoria to York Capital

30 November, Monitor Immobiliare

The long legal controversy concerning the Porta Vittoria development project has come to an end. The project was launched in 2000 by the developer Danilo Coppola. Following the bankruptcy of his company Porta Vittoria Spa, the area was assigned to three insolvency administrators who found in the company Progetto Vittoria Real Estate Spa, connected to York Capital Management Europe (Uk) Advisors Llp, a possible solution for the completion of the project.

Today, the Court of Milan formalised the ownership transfer of the area to the new company, relaunching in this way the works in Porta Vittoria.

Milan’s Urban Planning City Councillor Pierfrancesco Maran commented: “We’ve ended a dark chapter for Milan. Porta Vittoria has been left vacant for a long time, and now it can finally be recovered and made available again. We’re already in contact with the company in charge of the recovery of the land on which a public park will rise. We hope that the other works will start as soon as possible”.

Federico Oliva, director for York Capital Management Europe (Uk) Advisors: “We’re honoured to have been given the opportunity to take part in this requalification project, and we’re ready to carry out the interventions according to the plan. Milan is a very dynamic city in which we truly believe. We’re sure that the implementation of the project will have a positive impact on the quality of life of the residents”.

Once created the 30 thousand Sq m park in the area between Viale Umbria, Via Monte Ortigara and Via Cervignano, the company will then proceed with the sale of the first lot of apartments. Moreover, the project includes the implementation of another public park for 10 thousand Sq m of surface including sports facilities east from Via Cervignano and Viale Molise. These works will complete the part of the project which was already implemented: the road system, the almost-finished residential component, the Esselunga supermarket and the parking lot.

On Tuesday 11th December, at 6 pm at the Liberty Building, a public meeting will gather with Councillor Maran and the new owners to inform the neighbourhood of the restart of the works.

Source: Monitor Immobiliare

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

York is buying the Ministry’s offices

29 August, Milano Finanza

The newly-elected Minister for the Environment Sergio Costa has decided to move. After decades in the headquarters located in Viale Cristoforo Colombo in Rome, the Ministry’s offices will move in 2019 to a building in Trastevere. The reason is not only of economic nature, like the lease contract but also due to the contrast between the Ministry and the owner of the building, namely Dea Capital with its fund Alpha. The reason for the contrast, which has been going on for the last 15 years, concerns the renovation works of the building. In 2011 the Land Registry Office approved the renewal of the contract at the condition that the works for the total renovation of the building would have been planned, but this never happened. As a result, the Ministry for Environment continued renting the building with the compensation for the occupation. Now Minister Costa decided to find a new headquarter and avoiding appearing in Court against Italy’s biggest asset manager, property of the De Agostini group from Novara.

Having considered the significant dimensions of the building (30 thousand Sq m) and the plentiful of potential tenants, Dea Capital has recently accepted the binding offer worth 53 million from the international fund York representing a pool of American investors. The procedure has been long and complex, having taken nearly one year, and it has finalised this summer, although the closing for the preliminary sales agreement will be on 30th September.

Quinta Capital Partners was the strategic advisor of York for the operation. The company was created from a spin-off the Italian branch of the British asset manager Negentropy. Luca Turco is Quinta Ceo; he has previously covered managerial positions in the real estate sector in companies such as Prelios, Feidos and Fimiti (today Dea Capital Sgr). Among the members of the Board of Directors, there are Carlo Lassandro (Equitalia Giustizia and prior than that Ferrovie Italiane) and Sayonara Naccach (Merrill Lynch and Commerzbank).  Just a few months ago, Quinta had finalised some important operations like the acquisition on behalf of an American hedge fund of some unlet assets together with a building office complex in Rome from a Pan European fund of Deutsche Bank, as well as an asset located in Via Moscova, Milan city centre.

Source: Milano Finanza

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

The American capitals are coming to Porta Vittoria. There will be no auction

09 May, Il Giornale

There is a breakthrough for the biggest urban area of Milan. The auction scheduled today to find a buyer for Porta Vittoria, the vast area comprised between Viale Umbria and Viale Molise resulting from the bankruptcy of Danilo Coppola, will not take place. The reason is the entrance of an American investment fund which officially announced to be open to taking over the assets as well as the debts of the developer. The request for agreement among creditors, which substantially cancels the procedure, has been already deposited and it will become operational if it gets the consensus.

The fund York offers enough money to satisfy all the creditors of Coppola (banks, mainly, and suppliers) which are claiming over 320 million. For the insolvency curators, it’s a bargain, if we consider that the first attempt to sell on auction the land and the properties almost completed (a hotel and 150 apartments) was unsuccessful due to the lack of offers and that the destiny of the new auction didn’t look better, offering the whole portfolio at a 20% discount. The participation of York is good news for the residents in the area, as they hope for an intervention on the disused area, as well as for the Municipality of Milan since the American fund is meant to take over also the commitments taken by Coppola, namely the reclamation of the green area and the implementation of a big park and a sports centre.

There are still a few obstacles, starting from the litigation between the old owner, Coppola, and his creditors, especially Banco Bpm. The court sentence that last February condemned Coppola to seven years of imprisonment due to fraudulent bankruptcy also identified the potential responsibilities of the banks (as always argued by the developer) which had first supported the project and then conditioned the results. As a consequence, the court ordered an investigation of the former Banco Bpm Ceo, Pier Francesco Saviotti, and six among lawyer sand advisors. The motivations haven’t been deposited yet, but the District Attorney’s Office has already written some names in the roll of suspects.

The fight between Coppola and the banks also impacts the future of the area: Banco Bpm is endorsing the entrance of the American fund York, while Coppola favours the investment fund Algebris of Davide Serra. It might have been indeed Algebris to have sent the opposition deposited yesterday at the bankruptcy division against the agreement with the American fund.

As we can see, the situation is very complicated. But at least something now seems to be moving for Porta Vittoria, which seemed a mess without a solution for a long time. However, someone might wonder why financial companies entirely lead the competition, while the Milan developers – from Manfredi Catella to Davide Bizzi – keep clear from such apparently attracting area.

Source: Il Giornale

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Carige. The funds are competing for Marina Genova

16 May, Il Messaggero

The funds are competing for Marina Genova, the port facility near the Cristoforo Colombo airport property of the entrepreneur Giuseppe Rasero. Marina Genova has overdue debts with Carige for approximately 90 million. The property is included in the stock of payments past-due for over 90 days and classified as unlikely to pay (UTP). The bank guided by Paolo Fiorentino sold a portfolio of 85 past-due debts for 500 million, consistent with its derisking strategy which the ECB has been pushing for. The Isabella project, managed by Kpmg and BonelliErede, includes impaired loans for a total of 1.4 billion, 40% of which are referred to the shipping sector. About 30 offers have come in the past few days. Some of them are for the whole portfolio, while others are for a group of credits, or for about ten or even for just one. York Capital and Cerberus are among these ones. According to Il Messaggero, they might have bid for Marina Genova. Unlikely to pay are generally discounted at 50-55% and the offers of the two American funds should be aligned to this trend. Fortress and Blackstone made an offer also for the debts of the shipping group of Ignazio Messina, with an overdue debt amounting to 400 million. 49% of his company will go to MSC of the Aponte group and the liabilities will be transferred with the operation. Carige will likely refuse the proposals of the two funds since the company is seriously focused on the reorganization plan.

Short-list coming soon

Returning to Marina Genova, whoever will obtain the credit will also have access to the negotiations with Rasero. Hence, the negotiation might become a very attractive transfer of property due to the importance of the asset for the tourism of the city. If the operation is successful, it will be another Italian asset bought by funds. According to Kpmg, the 20 main transactions completed in 2017 and 2018 carried out by funds (from Allfunds bank to Ceme, till Prelios) translated into investments for 2.8 billion. The touristic port has 500 moorings with over 15 metres for fishing distributed among 4 docks with 100 moorings for boats over 24 metres and superyacht. Close by, there are 1,000 parking spaces, private parking lots on the jetties and garages.

Marina Genova is 5 minutes away from the airport by shuttle bus and it’s located close to the finest tourist locations on the Mediterranean: Portofino, Porto Venere, Porto Cervo and Saint Tropez.

York Capital is one of the most active investors on the Italian market. The company has recently put a guarantee of the credit of Banco Bpm towards Porta Vittoria for about 210 million, beating the competitor Algebris. Cerberus, with the senior advisor Roberto Nicastro, is a familiar name. The fund participated in many bids for impaired loans and it’s one of the short-listed names for Alitalia. Whereas Algebris is one of the 30 bidders for the Carige debts. There is also Fonspa, which acquired for 1.2 billion the Carige NPL platform as well as a 220 million NPL stock from CreVal. Finally, there are also Fortress, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank among the bidders. The advisors will meet soon with the Carige management to select a short-list.

Carige has almost solved its difficulties thanks to the Fiorentino management, as shown by the last quarter ended with a profit equal to 6.4 million (in comparison with the loss of 41.1 million in 2017) with a progressively growing operating income of 135.2 million. Besides the 500 million of overdue debts of the Isabella project, Fiorentino will sell other 200 million in 2019 and will securitise with Gacs NPL up to 1 billion in 2018.

Source: Il Messaggero

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

York Capital takes over Colombo’s credits in Porta Vittoria

13 January, Il Sole 24 Ore

A surprising development for the Porta Vittoria area in Milan collapsed under the weight of a 400-million-euro debt.

The American fund York Capital is now definitely the favoured among the competitors in the match over the area formerly owned by Danilo Coppola. After a negotiation lasted several weeks, York Capital has taken over the credits of the main non-bank creditor of the project, namely the company Colombo Costruzioni, that built the infrastructures and the buildings of the area.

The broker Blue Factor has reached an agreement with Colombo Costruzioni for the purchase of its credits. We must note that the majority of the necessary funding was obtained from a securitisation company whose notes will be underwritten by the investment funds managed by York Capital Management. This is an important step forward since York Capital has already signed a preliminary agreement (expiring in February) with the main creditor for the area, Banco Bpm, claiming a credit of over 200 million. At this stage, we must wait for the answer from the fund Algebris who, through the Nike Real Estate, the company managed by the fund Algebris II, deposited last week a bankruptcy settlement concerning the company Porta Vittoria Spa. The proposal was made in order to allow the full payment of the preferential creditors, together with the repayment of big quotas to the other creditors. In any case, the matter is very complex since there are still some issues to clarify regarding the past role of Banco Bpm in the area. The bank, in fact, is currently under investigation for its alleged managing and coordinating activity for Porta Vittoria Spa, now bankrupted. On the other hand, Porta Vittoria Spa may come up with a proposal capable of satisfying the creditors. Certainly, York Capital, by purchasing the credits from Colombo Costruzioni will have a decisive role in terms of voting power in the assembly of creditors.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

 

Porta Vittoria, blitz of York on Colombo credit

09 January, Milano Finanza

Algebris wants Porta Vittoria. Pity that things are not so simple. The solution provided by Algebris seems to satisfy everybody, especially Banco Bpm, the first creditor with an exposure of 220 million over a total of 400 million. Too bad they didn’t take the fund York into account. York, in fact, which already obtained in November a preliminary agreement to work on the debt of the area, hasn’t given up yet. On the contrary, it has signed an agreement to take over the debt of Colombo Costruzioni, amounting to 26 million. The objective of the fund is to participate in the negotiations with the creditors and have decisional power on the debt of the Milan-based real estate project. In this way, the procedure gets more complicated, with the risk of wasting time or, even worse, to cause the operation studied by Algebris to fall through. On the other hand, there is who believed that, with a bankruptcy procedure currently on, the York’s exclusive agreement with just one creditor will not go unnoticed.

Source: Milano Finanza

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

 

Colombo Costruzioni decisive on Porta Vittoria

10 January, Il Sole 24 Ore

The sale of the Porta Vittoria in Milan, collapsed under the weight of a 400 million debt, is getting the interests from different sides. And the players are ready to make their move. With much surprise, Algebris has presented its application for a settlement with creditors to the Court of Milan, triggering a chain reaction.

The other fund York Capital, who had started well before Algebris working at the dossier, is trying to finish the work started a couple of weeks before. It has, in fact, signed a preliminary agreement with Banco Bpm, the main creditor for the area, that will expire in February. Moreover, the fund is negotiating with Colombo Costruzioni, who developed the area, to take over its credits through a special purpose company. The credits of Colombo Costruzioni might be decisive for the launch of the assembly of creditors and to get the approval. It’s not to be excluded that, besides Algebris and York, other players may join.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi