Tag: Axactor

ECI Accelerates Sale Of 140,000 Doubtful Loans

10 April 2017 – Voz Populí

Financiera El Corte Inglés has selected three overseas funds as candidates to go through to the final round of its tender to award the first sale of doubtful loans in its history. The entity that is jointly owned by Banco Santander (51%) and El Corte Inglés (49%) has chosen Axactor, Cabot Financial and Link Finanzas as the finalists in Project Alexandria.

Through this process, Financiera El Corte Inglés wants to clean up the worst part of its credit portfolio, by selling off loans that it deems irrecoverable. Project Alexandria comprises 140,000 doubtful credits, mainly corresponding to loans worth €160 million.

This operation is generating a great deal of interest in the market, because to date, El Corte Inglés and its financing arm have not put any portfolios on the market. For this reason, the funds are all willing to pay a premium in order to begin to collaborate with the largest consumer finance company by volume of loans.

The three funds selected to participate in the final phase of the process are investors that have been operating in Spain for a while. They all have their own recovery platforms and they have a vested interest in making a name for themselves in this market.

Who are the candidates?

Axactor arrived in Spain two years go. It is a Nordic group founded by former directors of Lindorff, one of the largest platforms in this segment in Europe, which in Spain controls Aktua and provides services to Sabadell and BMN. Like its fellow group from Norway, Axactor arrived in Spain chequebook in hand and within a few months had purchased several portfolios plus the business and team at Geslico, the former subsidiary of Lico Leasing.

Cabot is also an international recovery platform, based in the United Kingdom, and with connections to Encore, one of the largest global groups, itself based in the United States. Cabot established itself in Spain a couple of years ago and made its break with the acquisition of one of the largest servicers, Gesif.

Meanwhile, Link Finanzas is another British fund whose interest in Spain dates back even earlier than those of the other two investors. Link has been purchasing portfolios in the Iberian market for years. Last year, it consolidated its international presence with the purchase of the last vestiges of BBVA’s consumer business in Italy, for €100 million.

One of these three investors will be awarded the first portfolio to bear the El Corte Inglés brand. They are expected to submit their binding offers, which could amount to €15 million – €20 million, after Easter.

The latest data from Asnet and the CNMV reveal that Financiera El Corte Inglés is one of the market leaders by market share and profit, given that in 2016, it earned more than €66 million. Besides this portfolio, there are currently more than a dozen portfolios in the market, from the main entities in the country, including: BBVA, CaixaBank, Bankia, Liberbank, Ibercaja and Popular, amongst others.

Original story: Voz Populí (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axactor Buys Its Fifth Debt Portfolio In Spain For €565M

2 August 2016 – Cinco Días

The Norwegian company Axactor is continuing with its commitment to Spain. Yesterday, it announced the purchase of a new debt portfolio in the Spanish market for €565 million, which represents the company’s fifth operation this year. In this way, Axactor is pushing ahead with its growth strategy in Spain and is strengthening its position as one of the main operators in the debt management sector. Juan Manuel Gutiérrez (pictured above right), Head of Axactor in Spain, confirmed that “ we are totally focused on growth: this acquisition forms part of our plans to continue increasing our presence in the Spanish market, through both the purchase of portfolios and the management of debt for third parties”.

The new debt portfolio acquired by Axactor comprises secured and unsecured loans amounting to €565 million. The portfolio includes almost 30,000 accounts held by individuals and small and medium-sized companies. This acquisition comes after the firm closed another deal in July in the primary market, when it purchased a debt portfolio for €144 million from Banco Mare Nostrum.

Since December 2015, the company has tripled the number of cases under management (from 250,000 to 780,000) and it has quadrupled the total volume of debt under management (from €2,140 million to €9,035 million). Spain has become the fastest growing market for the group and is at the centre of its strategy to become the leader of the debt management market in mainland Europe. Its progress was boosted by the acquisition of Geslico, an operation that allowed the Nordic firm to become the second largest operator in this business segment.

In addition, the incorporation of that company into the group has allowed Axactor to cover the entire value chain of the debt business and has facilitated operations involving collections and debt purchases thanks to a complex IT system to which Axactor has obtained access as a result of the integration of Geslico.

Axactor bought the management company of the former savings banks from the opportunistic fund Fortress, following the US firm’s withdrawal from the country. In this way, Axactor began its international expansion several months ago and chose Spain for that purpose. Its strategy involves becoming the leader of the debt management market in mainland Europe. “Spain has become the launch pad for this strategy and a key market for the Norwegian group”, said the firm, which is listed on the stock exchange.

Original story: Cinco Días (by A.G.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Axactor Acquires €144M NPL Portfolio From BMN

4 July 2016 – Expansión

The Nordic group Axactor, which purchased Geslico last month, is another star player in the market. It has just acquired its fourth portfolio in Spain: Project Otello, from BMN, containing €144 million worth of NPLs. The investment will be financed using Axactor’s available liquidity and credit facilities from the Norewgian bank DNB. The deal forms part of the Norwegian group’s strategy to grow in the main European markets.

By purchasing the portfolio directly from BMN, this operation is the first that the company has completed in the primary market, a type of transaction that requires greater financial and legal compliance than acquisitions made in the secondary market.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Banks & Funds Bid For Citi’s Real Estate Legacy

31 May 2016 – Expansión

Citi’s real estate legacy in Spain is up for auction. Two US funds, Ares Management and York Capital, have put real estate loans and foreclosed assets amounting to €180 million up for sale, and banks and opportunistic investors are bidding to acquire the portfolio.

Around half of the portfolio comprises mortgages, of which the majority are up to date (in terms of their repayments), whilst the rest are homes and other assets that the funds have acquired as a result of non-payment (by borrowers).

Ares Management and York Capital purchased these assets from Citi in Spain at the beginning of the crisis, as they took advantage of the fact that the US entity was withdrawing from certain activities. That was further reflected last year with the sale of its credit card and retail banking business to Banco Popular.

Resale of assets

The strategy to resell assets is common amongst the opportunistic funds, either because they have already obtained the expected returns or because they believe that they can obtain a higher price by selling the portfolio at a particular time.

For example, that is exactly what Fortress did recently, with the sale of Geslico, the former recoveries platform of the savings banks, to the Norwegian group Axactor. The same fund has been selling off other assets in Spain, just like other funds that arrived in Spain and purchased assets between 2011 and 2012.

The operation is being advised by N+1, under the name Project Firefox, and the first offers are expected to be received within the next few days, according to sources at the funds.

In addition to this portfolio, last year, Citi sold another portfolio to Evo Banco from the fund Apollo, containing €370 million of mortgages and 200 properties.

In parallel, the US bank sold its retail banking and credit card business to Popular for €240 million. The Spanish entity acquired a portfolio of 1.2 million clients, around €2,300 million assets under management, €2,000 million in deposits, a network of 45 bank branches and a workforce comprising 950 employees. Moreover, it acquired 1.1 million credit cards, which have a total outstanding loan balance of €1,400 million.

Project Firefox will have to compete with the avalanche of real estate asset portfolios that the Spanish banks have put on the market in the last month, with Bankia, CaixaBank, Sabadell, BBVA, Santander, Cajamar and Abanca, amongst others, all offering up assets for sale.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Norwegian Group Axactor Buys Geslico From Fortress

13 May 2016 – Expansión

On Wednesday, the US fund Fortress signed the sale of Geslico, the recovery firm of the former savings banks, to a new player in the Spanish market, the Norwegian group Axactor.

Through this agreement, Fortress has almost completely withdrawn from the financial sector, where it now only owns Lico Leasing. The opportunistic fund decided to backtrack because of the administrative obstacles that it came up against when it tried to take control of the savings’ banks financial company – 15 months. In recent months, it has also sold part of the stake that it held in Paratus, the former financing arm of General Motors, GMAC, to the British firm Cabot Financial.

The acquisition by Axactor represents the arrival of another Norwegian specialist firm in Spain. The financial crisis that the Scandinaivan countries experienced in the 1990s forced them to specialise in this type of business, something that they are now taking advantage of in the face of the accumulation of troubled banking assets in markets such as Spain.

Alongside Axactor, Lindorff has been one of the most active players in Spain in recent years. In fact, Axactor’s team in Spain originated in Lindorff, with executives such as Juan Manuel Gutiérrez Alcubilla (pictured above, right), the former Finance Director of Lindorff, now leading Axactor as the Country Manager.

Through the purchase of Fortress’ stake, Axactor España hopes to generate revenues of more than €40 million in 2016, compared with €10 million in 2015. The Norwegian group will employ a workforce of almost 500 people, more than twice the current number, across 9 operating centres. In addition, the operation will allow it to increase the volume of debt under management to €3,600 million. This investor has purchased portfolios from Oaktree – a Bankia portfolio – and York – from Ibercaja – in recent months. The advisors to this operation were N+1, on the side of Fortress and KPMG, on the side of the Norwegian group.

Original story: Expansión (by J. Z.)

Translation: Carmel Drake