Banif’s Former Headquarters in Lisbon to Go on Sale in September

17 July 2018

Oitante, which took over Banif’s troubled assets upon the bank’s liquidation in late 2015, will put the bank’s former headquarters on sale at the end of summer. The property, located on Avenida José Malhoa, in the city centre, will hit the market in September, as part of the portfolio of assets that the company led by Miguel Barbosa wants to sell by the end of the year. The sales would help pay 40% of the company’s debts (€117 million), taken on three years previously.

In September, the executive told Expresso, “we are going to launch the process of selling Banif’s former headquarters on Avenida José Malhoa, among others, which are already underway.” He added that “the company’s objective is to maximize the pace of sales of equity holdings and real estate to pay off 40% of the debt this year, thereby avoiding any need to request funds from the Resolution Fund.”

Oitante’s management team’s strategy is being helped by “the change in the business cycle and the fact that Portugal continues to benefit from a rising real estate market, which directly affects the sale and recovery of loans,” says Miguel Barbosa.

Altamira to receive €85 million to manage real estate portfolio

On the other hand, the executive stated in his interview with the newsweekly, the contract, signed at the end of 2017 with the Altamira management fund, to manage a set of properties (an approximately 1-billion-euro portfolio) and bad debts will “accelerate the sales of some of the assets we inherited, including residential and industrial properties.”

Altamira, which is mostly owned by the U.S.-based Apollo fund (85%) and by Santander (15%), has a five-year contract with Oitante. Oitante’s president expects to have concluded most of the sales by the end of that period.

The management of these portfolios will cost Oitante approximately 85 million euros in commissions to Altamira during those five years. That cost, according to the president of the Oitante, “will be reflected in savings when compared to our costs when we managed this portfolio via four different entities.”

Original Story: Idealista

Photo: YouTube

Translation: Richard Turner