Tag: Liberbank

Sareb Seeks to Integrate its Residential Business into a Listed Property Developer

22 February 2018 – Cinco Días

Sareb has started on a road that it has not yet explored in its short life. The so-called bad bank is evaluating the possibility of entering the residential property development business with a bang, as it plans to team up with a partner in the sector, in exchange for providing land to a joint venture company. That is according to several sources familiar with the process that has reportedly just started.

According to the sources, Sareb has started a process to divest land and developments in progress for around €800 million, which would result in the largest transaction in the history of the entity.

But on this occasion, the managers of Sareb are seeking to use a new formula, which would involve it contributing land to the share capital of a large property developer, be it one that is already listed or one that is considering its market debut. In return, it would enter the residential property development business and benefit from the high profit margin generated by the house construction business.

The operation is in its initial phases and several sources explain that the size of the land portfolio that Sareb wants to put up for sale may still vary, as may the formula for entering the share capital of the real estate company that ends up winning the tender. Sources at the entity declined to comment.

In any case, Sareb would enter the share capital of the property developer with the final aim of the joint venture making its debut on the stock market, which would allow the bad bank to easily divest its stake in the market in the future, in the same way, for example, that Santander and BBVA have done in the case of Metrovacesa’s return to the stock market.

The intention of the entity is to enter as a minority shareholder, ceding the management, of one of the large real estate companies that are currently starring in the new upward cycle in terms of residential development.

This would be a very similar operation to the one carried out by Santander and BBVA with Metrovacesa. In recent years, the banks have been increasing the property developer’s portfolio by contributing land from their balance sheets in exchange for stakes in the company’s share capital. For example, in July last year, the two banks injected land worth €1.1 billion into Metrovacesa through a non-monetary capital increase.

According to the sources, entering the share capital of a property developer would allow Sareb to benefit from the upward cycle in the housing sector since that business generates high profit margins on the construction of homes, much greater than those generated on the simple sale of land portfolios.

The idea could be summarised by the integration of all of Sareb’s residential and land development business by a property developer, to gain a long-term partner.

Only a limited number of candidates have been invited to participate in the process to become Sareb’s strategic ally, around six potential partners, according to the sources.

The perimeter of the assets, worth around €800 million, would make the operation the largest undertaken by the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above). Until now, the largest direct sale was the so-called Eloise portfolio, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs, for €553 million. Initially, Sareb even considered a larger contribution of land, worth up to €1.2 billion, but the experts consider that such a volume would be too difficult for any partner to digest.

In fact, the candidates to integrate Sareb’s assets are very limited because of the volume of the operation. All sights are set on the large listed companies in the sector, such as Neinor, Aedas and Metrovacesa, as well as on the other property developers that are backed by international funds, which are not currently trading on the stock market. In the case of the latter, the formula whereby that company ends up on the market would have to be analysed to facilitate the liquidity that would allow Sareb to divest over the medium term. In that case, the list is much more extensive: Aelca (Värde), Vía Célere (Värde), Gestilar (Morgan Stanley), Q21 Real Estate (Baupost), Inmoglacier (Cerberus), Habitat (Bain Capital) and ASG Iberia (Activum).

In terms of the timings fixed by the entity, the sources indicate that the operation will be closed before the summer, although they acknowledge the difficulty of the process to complete the finishing touches of the negotiations to find a strategic partner.

According to sources in the sector, the timings may also be determined by Sareb’s intention to pre-empt other major land operations that are expected to take place over the next few months.

Such is the case of Blackstone, which acquired 51% of Popular’s property portfolio, assets worth around €10 billion. Cerberus is also expected to be active in the market, through Haya Real Estate and Anida – after acquiring 80% of BBVA’s portfolio worth €5 billion – and, finally, Bain Capital, with Liberbank’s property.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone & Santander’s RE Company Hires Liberbank Director

14 February 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Banco Santander and Blackstone are appointing the management team of what is going to be one of the largest real estate real estate companies in Spain. Aliseda, the platform in which the fund owns a 51% stake and the bank holds a 49% share, has hired José Luis Bellosta, a Director of Liberbank until now, as Director General, according to confirmation provided by sources to this newspaper.

Bellosta completes Aliseda’s management team, which is led by Eduard Mendiluce as the CEO. Mendiluce is a former director of Catalunya Caixa and is one of Blackstone’s key people in Spain.

Two General Directorates report into Mendiluce: the one run by Bellosta, which will be responsible for managing the more than €4 billion in real estate assets that Popular (in other words, the Santander Group) still holds on its balance sheet; and the other, led by Enrique Used, whose appointment was revealed by Vóz Populi, which will manage the divestment of the €30 billion transferred to Blackstone – Project Quasar.

It is not the first time that Bellosta has worked under the Santander umbrella. He previously served as Director of the Asset Custody and Back Office Subsidiary of the group chaired by Ana Botín between 2003 and 2009. Subsequently, he worked for six years at Agrupalia before being hired as the CEO of FK2, the operations subsidiary of Liberbank.

In this way, Aliseda’s structure is now ready for the launch of the new divestment plan designed by Mendiluce, whilst it awaits the authorisations that should arrive within the next few weeks.

Blackstone also manages Anticipa, the platform inherited from Catalunya Caixa Inmobiliaria. The fund has decided to not merge the two companies – Aliseda and Anticipa – and so each one will follow its own path.

Meanwhile, Santander also owns 15% of Altamira, the real estate company in which Apollo holds the remaining 85% stake. The bank and the fund held negotiations over a year ago regarding Apollo’s exit, but without success. The new situation could revive that operation.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Haya Reorganises Its Company Structure & Creates Haya Servicing

19 February 2018 – Eje Prime

Haya is reorganising its company structure. The real estate company, owned by the private equity fund Cerberus, has created a limited company, Haya Real Estate Servicing. This constitution forms part of the bond issue operation that the company carried out at the end of last year.

According to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry, the corporate purpose of the new entity involves activities relating to the purchase, administration and sale of all kinds of real estate assets and securities.

Its share capital amounts to €60,000 and its headquarters are located on Calle Vía de los Poblados, the same registered address as the limited company Haya Real Estate, the group’s parent company. The sole administrator is Carlos Abad, the CEO of the real estate group and its legal representatives are Bárbara Zubíria Furest, the company’s Finance Director, and Ana Suárez Garnelo, Senior Legal Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Directors.

The move forms part of the bond issue that the group undertook in November last year. Then, the company debuted on the debt market by placing €475 million in guaranteed senior bonds.

For the debt issue, the group constituted a new limited company, Haya Finance, created solely to carry out that operation. Nevertheless, in the document sent to the Luxembourg stock exchange, where Haya asked for the bonds to be traded, the group revealed its intention to create a new limited company, arguing that this formula presented fewer restrictions.

“As at the date of issue, Haya is organised as a limited liability company”, said the group in the document. “In accordance with Spanish legislation, the capacity of a limited liability company to guarantee debt in the capital markets has not been tested in the Spanish courts” it continued. In this sense, Haya underlined that a limited liability company may only issue bonds worth up to twice its own resources, at most, unless the issue is guaranteed by a mortgage or joint guarantee from a credit institution, amongst others.

Nevertheless, the company also expressed that “the applicable Spanish statute does not expressly include any restrictions over the maximum amount that can be guaranteed by a limited liability company, and there is debate between the experts as to whether the aforementioned limited limitations should also apply to the guarantee interests provided by a limited liability company to guarantee debt on the capital market”.

Finally, Haya concluded that “in accordance with the trust agreement”, the principle guarantor “shall undertake to convert itself into a limited company that is not subject to the aforementioned restrictions”.

Last week, Cerberus engaged Rothschild to handle the IPO of Haya, currently worth €1.2 billion. The real estate company led by Carlos Abad currently manages a portfolio of assets worth almost €40 billion.

Founded in 2013, after Cerberus acquired the assets of Bankia Habitat, Haya has expanded its reach with the management of additional portfolios on behalf of other financial institutions such as Sareb, BBVA, Liberbank and Cajamar. During the 9 months to September, the servicer obtained revenues of €165.8 million and generated EBITDA of €89.8 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus & Lindorff Compete for Bankia-BMN’s RE Business

14 February 2018 – Real Estate Press

Bankia has started talks with Haya Real Estate (Cerberus) and Aktua (Lindorff) to award the management of all of the real estate assets that it has incorporated into its portfolio following its merger with BMN (…), according to sources in the know. Bankia has been working with Haya since 2013 and BMN with Aktua, the former real estate arm of Banesto, since 2014.

The same financial sources indicate that Bankia is now in a stronger position to improve the conditions of its contract in light of the good times being enjoyed in the real estate sector. Although the technological integration of the two entities will not take place until 19 March, the authorities already approved the merger at the end of December.

In 2013, the entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri awarded the business to manage and sell around €12.2 billion gross in real estate assets to Cerberus. That agreement comes to an end at the beginning of 2023. Haya Real Estate, the Spanish subsidiary of the US fund Cerberus, has become a major player in the real estate market in recent years. It manages debt and assets worth almost €40 billion and has engaged Rothschild to handle its upcoming stock market debut later this year. It also holds agreements with Sareb, BBVA, Cajamar and Liberbank.

In its failed attempt to go public, BMN got rid of its property manager Inmare in 2014 to focus on the traditional business. It then signed a 10-year agreement with Aktua.

Subsequently, the Norwegian fund Lindorff purchased Aktua in 2016. That company also manages the real estate assets of Ibercaja, amongst other entities.

Cerberus and Lindorff are re-enacting the battle fought last summer. Then, the funds were bidding to acquire the real estate subsidiary of Liberbank, Mihabitans. In the end, the US won those negotiations and was awarded the contract to manage Liberbank’s foreclosed assets for the next seven years.

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake

A&M: Spain’s Top 5 Banks Cut Their Toxic Assets to Below €100bn

18 February 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Good news for the banks. The heavy burden of recent years, their exposure to real estate, is causing less concern, little by little. The work undertaken over the last year has allowed the large institutions to reduce their volume of problem assets (doubtful and foreclosed loans) to less than €100 billion.

That is according to the findings of a report from the consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal based on figures at the end of 2017: the five largest banks (Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Sabadell and Bankia) decreased their toxic assets from €145 billion to €106 billion. That calculation does include the transfer of €30 billion from Popular to Blackstone – which will be completed within the next few weeks, – but not the sale of €13 billion from BBVA to Cerberus.

Taking into account the latter operation, the level of toxic assets held by the five largest banks amounts to €93 billion, having decreased by 36% since 2016. Those figures do not include exposure to other entities that also made significant efforts in this regard during 2017, such as Liberbank.

According to the report, after all of the events of last year, CaixaBank is the entity that now has the largest volume of problem assets on its balance sheet, with €27 billion. The group chaired by Jordi Gual has engaged KPMG to undertake a large divestment of its foreclosed assets, but that it is taking longer than expected.

The second-placed entity in the ranking is Santander, with an exposure of €25 billion, which in net terms (after provisions) amounts to €13 billion. Its CEO, José Antonio Álvarez, announced a few months ago that he expects to divest around €6 billion this year.

The third bank in the ranking is BBVA, with €21 billion, before the sale of €13 billion to Cerberus. Once that operation has been closed (scheduled for the end of the first half of this year), it will be the most healthy entity, with the highest levels of coverage.

Plans underway

Sabadell is another of the entities that has made the greatest efforts to liquidate its property in recent months. It decreased its balance from €19 billion to €15 billion in 2017 and is planning big sales this year, provided it receives approval from the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

Meanwhile, Bankia has actually increased its exposure, by integrating BMN, although it will not reveal its plans in this regard until it unveils its next strategic plan (at the end of this month).

The bulk of the work in the sector has now been completed. Nevertheless, the home straight still remains, which is what will be tackled this year, to a large extent. With this, the banks will be able to turn the page and dedicate their resources to granting credit rather than to covering past losses.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus Prepares for Haya’s Stock Market Debut After the Summer

9 February 2018 – Cinco Días

Metrovacesa achieved it on Tuesday, despite problems to cover supply and the nefarious stock market session that it suffered. The large Spanish property developer, which abandoned the equity market in May 2013, made its return last week. It hasn’t exactly eased the way for the upcoming debuts of Vía Célere, owned by the fund Värde, or the Socimi Testa. But it hasn’t made a total hash of it either.

In this way, the US fund Cerberus is in the process of contracting the banks that will handle the debut its Spanish real estate servicer subsidiary on the stock market. The aim is for that firm to be listed from September. The entities that are on the list of candidates have already done their calculations and are citing a valuation for the company, albeit preliminary, of around €1.2 billion. The aim is to place between 35% and 50% of Haya Real Estate’s capital at this stage. A spokesman for the company declined to comment on this information.

The company, which was created in October 2013, manages property developer loans and foreclosed real estate assets from Bankia, Sareb, Cajamar, Liberbank, BBVA and other financial institutions, worth €39.88 billion at the end of September 2017.

The process of going public is the logical next step, after Haya placed €475 million in high yield bonds in November, with ratings of B3 (Moody’s) and B- (S&P). In other words, in the junk bond range, six levels below investment grade.

The underwriters of that debt, which matures in 2022, were Santander, Bankia, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. And they sold it with considerable success. Despite its credit rating, the firm pays an annual return of just over 5% for that liability.

Haya, led by Carlos Abad Rico (formerly of Canal + and Sogecable) offers services across the whole real estate value chain, but it is not a property developer. Rather, it manages, administers, securitises (…) and sells real estate assets such as homes and offices, but it does not own any of the properties.

Bankia Habitat was the seedling of Haya, and it has grown in line with the need by the financial sector to get rid of assets linked to property. One of Haya’s key businesses is the management of loans linked to the real estate sector. It advises on loans and guarantees, recovers debt and converts loans into foreclosed real estate assets.

The other major part of its revenues stems from the recovery and management of properties through their sale or rental. Haya employs 680 professionals and has a sales network of 2,400 brokers. The value of its property developer debt portfolio amounts to €28.7 billion and its real estate asset portfolio amounts to €11.2 billion. Moreover, Haya is going to bid to manage the assets sold by BBVA to Cerberus in November. Haya’s current shareholder acquired 80% of the BBVA’s portfolio of real estate assets, amounting to around €13 billion, for €4 billion (…)

Consolidation

The Spanish banks’ other real estate management companies are waiting for Cerberus to make the first move, according to financial sources. Haya will open the door to the stock market for them if everything goes well or it will serve to consolidate the sector, both here and in Europe.

There are three high profile players on the list. Servihabitat, which manages assets amounting to around €50 billion and which belongs to the fund Texas Pacific Group (TPG), which has held a 51% stake since September 2013, when CaixaBank sold it that percentage; the bank still holds onto the remaining 49%. Altamira, owned by Santander (15%) and the fund Apollo (85%), which also handles assets worth around €50 million in Spain. The volume managed by Solvia, owned by Sabadell, amounts to around €31 billion.

Moody’s warns that the business of Haya Real Estate, the largest company in the sector in Spain, depends on the economic performance of the company and the renewal of its current management contracts. Specifically, one of the most important, with Sareb (…), signed in 2013, is due to expire in December next year.

In terms of its strengths, the ratings agency indicates Haya’s extensive knowledge of the market and its high margins. The firm’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) during the first nine months of last year amounted to €89.8 million, with net income (the amount really invoiced by the company) of €165.8 million.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Pablo Martín Simón and Laura Salces)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA & Sabadell Hold Delicate Negotiations with the FGD to Sell Their Assets

5 February 2018 – Expansión

BBVA and Sabadell want to remove from their balance sheets the damaged real estate assets that they still own as a result of their acquisitions of Unnim and CAM, respectively. Those assets, which have a book value of around €16 billion in total, are temporarily protected by an Asset Protection Scheme (EPA), which, was granted at the time by the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD) so that the two banks would take on the business of the former savings banks, which had filed for bankruptcy. The negotiations that the two banks are now holding with the FGD share significant difficulties that cannot be solved easily, although they also have notable differences.

The European Central Bank has been putting pressure on the supervised entities to remove any damaged assets that they still own from their balance sheets, as soon as possible, because it understands that their maintenance reduces the banks’ ability to make profits and lets the doubts continue to hang over the real health of the entities. Now that the ECB considers that the worst of the crisis is over and that the banks are reasonably capitalised, it wants to clear up all the doubts. He has granted a period of five years for these problems to be resolved, although, in reality, it wants them to be sorted in a shorter timeframe: within three years.

When it acquired Popular, Santander launched a procedure to remove all of the real estate assets of its subsidiary from the balance sheet, by reaching an agreement with Blackstone to create a mixed company, in which the US fund holds the majority stake and where Santander has parked assets with a theoretical value of €30 billion. Liberbank has done the same, for a much small sum, retaining just 10% of the capital in its new company.

Meanwhile, BBVA has reached an agreement with Cerberus to transfer €13 billion to a company in which the bank will hold a 20% stake. Of those assets, a significant part, around €4 billion, correspond to assets proceeding from Unnim, which have a guarantee from the FGD for 80% of the losses that may be incurred at the time of their sale.

Meanwhile, Sabadell wants to divest assets worth €12 billion, which sit in a portfolio that is still subject to an EPA that will end in 2021, with the same guarantees as BBVA’s. The difference in the size of the two portfolios is clear.

That is where the problem arises. To close the operation, the FGD needs to accept that it will assume the losses incurred at the time of the sales. And even though its resources have been contributed exclusively by the financial institutions themselves, the public body does not have sufficient funds to assume those losses and whereby avoid grounds for dissolution.

Differences

In reality, the portfolio proceeding from Unnim does not cause excessive problems for several reasons. Firstly, it is smaller and, therefore, the loss to be assumed is considerably reduced. Moreover, according to sources in the know, the FGD has already recognised a coverage for those assets that is pretty close to the market value at which they could be sold (…).

The case of Sabadell, however, is different because the size of its protected portfolio is much larger. It started off at €22 billion and now amounts to just over half, around €12 billion. Sabadell considers that the real value of its assets is approximately half their theoretical value (…) but the FGD (…) maintains that the provisioning need is much lower, around 35% of the book value of those assets.

The difference in criteria between the two parties is important. In figures, it means that there is almost €1.8 billion that separates them and that, of that amount, if it is confirmed in the end, the FGD would have to assume almost €1.5 billion. That would be impossible in the current conditions, because it would mean that the body that guarantees the deposits of banking clients up to €100,000, would have to declare itself bankrupt or, as it has done on other occasions, impose an extraordinary surcharge on its shareholders, domestic entities, to balance its accounts and cover the hole (…).

A solution

But, on the other hand, the FGD is also interested in closing the chapter on asset protection schemes as soon as possible because, until that happens, it will be very difficult to progress with the construction of a European deposit guarantee fund, which is the third leg of the banking union. Indeed, it is not being built precisely because of reluctance being shown by the countries in the north to assume the problems of the past (…).

For this reason, sources close to the conversations confirm that they are now focusing on a possible solution that goes beyond the current moment. The FGD may be interested in reaching an agreement that would entail the possibility of accounting for the losses not in a single year, but rather over a longer period of time, possibly three years. The next few weeks are important because the authorities want to close the conversations before the end of the month.

Original story: Expansión (by Salvador Arancibia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Considers Selling €1.8 bn Portfolio Whilst it Negotiates with FGD

1 February 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Banco Sabadell is preparing an artillery of divestments over the coming months. The entity chaired by Josep Oliu (pictured above) has been sounding out the market for several weeks now regarding the launch of what would be its largest sale of problem assets to date, worth €1.8 billion, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli.

This operation, which still needs to be approved by the bank’s Board of Directors, would be the precursor to a mega-operation amounting to €12 billion that the entity is considering launching over the next few months, according to Expansión. Sabadell has three mandates granted to launch these divestments in 2018 with Deloitte, KPMG and Alantra.

Nevertheless, these sales have been held up by the Management Committee of the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD). The €12 billion that Sabadell wants to sell are precisely those covered by the Asset Protection Scheme (EPA) granted by the semi-public fund during the sale of CAM.

The Management Committee, whose members include bankers from some of Sabadell’s competitor firms, is questioning the sale of the €12 billion because of the hole it would cause in its own accounts. The FGD held equity funds of €1.6 billion at the end of 2016. The same thing is happening with BBVA. In that case, the FGD is considering whether to approve the accelerated sale of assets proceeding from Unnim’s EPA.

Two positions

This story is about two very different positions. On the one hand, Sabadell and BBVA want to bulk sell all of the problem assets that they inherited from the purchases of CAM and Unnim, respectively, in one go. In terms of the danger posed by the end of the EPA, they know that, like happened to Liberbank, when the guarantees end, the unsold assets will affect their capital ratios, by raising the denominator (APRs).

Meanwhile, the FGD is studying the impact that these operations may have and whether the contracts signed at the time allow such accelerated divestments.

Sabadell was one of the most active entities in the sale of problem portfolios last year, with the sale of Project Normandy to Oaktree and Project Voyager to the largest pension fund in Canada.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Haya Signs Agreement with ING to Manage its Foreclosed RE Assets

28 December 2017 – Voz Pópuli

Haya Real Estate is continuing to expand its real estate network in Spain. In just two months, Cerberus, the owner of the platform, has purchased 80% of BBVA’s real estate, acquired the property developer Inmoglacier and signed a new alliance with a bank: ING.

This latest agreement was signed in November and establishes that, from now on, Haya RE will be responsible for the management and sale of ING’s foreclosed assets, including not only those properties the bank already controls but also those that it inherits in the future due to defaulted loans. Although the real estate exposure of the Dutch institution in Spain is low (no figures were revealed), the deal shows that Haya Real Estate is continuing to win clients in a highly competitive market.

Cerberus España already controls the assets of BBVA (once Project Marina is approved in the middle of the year), Sareb, Bankia, Liberbank, Cajamar and those of other funds such as Waterfall. In total, it has property worth more than €50 billion under its management.

Another contract won by Haya recently was Waterfall’s, comprising 400 assets worth €57 million, purchased from Cajamar. That agreement made amends for the fact that Altamira won the contract to manage the assets of Liberbank that were acquired by Bain Capital.

Mergers

All of the real estate platforms (also known as servicers) are trying to win business ahead of a possible consolidation in their market in 2018. Haya Real Estate, Servihabitat (in which TPG and CaixaBank hold 51% and 49% stakes, respectively), Altamira (owned by Apollo 85% and Santander 15%), Aktua (Lindorff) and Anticipa-Aliseda (Blackstone) are the largest.

Another recent move in the sector saw the entry of Axactor, with the acquisition of Unicaja’s assets.

Solvia, the real estate arm of Sabadell, is one of the major unknowns in the sector. Two years ago, it negotiated a possible merger with Haya Real Estate, which has still not been ruled out as we head into 2018.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

 

Unicaja Sells 4,000 Properties to Axactor

14 December 2017 – El Confidencial

Another transaction involving the sale of real estate assets by one of the banks. Grupo Unicaja has sold a portfolio of 4,000 real estate assets, whose gross value amounts to €252 million, to the Norwegian player Axactor.

The foreclosed assets are divided into two companies in which the Andalucian entity will continue to control a 25% stake, whilst the other 75% stake will be taken over by the Nordic fund. The operation will not have a significant impact on Unicaja’s income statement, according to a report sent by the bank to the CNMV.

This agreement follows the path marked by Santander, which in the summer fired the starting gun for a generalised move in the sector towards the rapid deconsolidation of the bulk of its real estate exposure.

The entity chaired by Ana Botín transferred 51% of a €30 billion portfolio to Blackstone; BBVA then sold 80% of a €13 billion portfolio to Cerberus; and Liberbank recently sold 90% of a €600 million portfolio to Bain and Oceanwood.

Axactor and Unicaja have agreed that one of the entity’s subsidiaries, the company Gestión de Inmuebles Adquiridos (GIA), will be responsible for the administration and marketing of the properties.

Over the last year, Unicaja has reduced its non-performing assets by €1.19 billion, equivalent to 21% of the non-performing assets (most doubtful foreclosed assets) that it held on its balance sheet at the end of 2016.

Original story: El Confidencial

Translation: Carmel Drake