Changes Afoot: Sareb Considers Modifying the Management of its €35.5bn Portfolio

29 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The bad bank is rethinking its future. The company is analysing the possibilities that the current servicer market offers it in terms of restructuring the approximately €35.5 billion that it has on its balance sheet in a completely different way. The objective of the move, according to sources close to the group, is to generate more profitability.

When at the end of 2014, the bad bank launched the so-called Project Ibero, it awarded the management of its portfolio to four servicers: Haya Real Estate, Altamira, Servihabitat and Solvia, and it distributed the work between the entities, according to El Economista.

Now, the company is analysing what would be the most efficient way of segmenting the assets, and the possibilities that it is considering include the option to “regionalise” the portfolio by geographical area. Likewise, it could organise its catalogue by asset type, given that more sophisticated operators now exist that were not on the scene in 2014, and they specialise by market segment focusing on areas such as logistics, retail and hotel.

In the review of its new strategy, the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above), is also considering bringing some of the management activity in-house, like it has been doing to date with the large bankruptcy cases, such as for example Martinsa Fadesa. Another example is the property development department, for which it is now looking for an industrial partner, in a process that includes finalists of the calibre of Vía Célere, Aedas Homes and Aelca.

The first contract that Sareb has started to review, which expires at the end of 2019, is the portfolio currently in the hands of Haya Real Estate, with a net value of around €12.5 billion at the end of 2017. The next contracts are not due to expire until 2021, since the duration of the agreements that Sareb signed range between five and seven years from the date they entered into force.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake