Tag: mortgage loans

Blackstone Finalising Sale of Mortgage Portfolio to CarVal Investors

25 June 2019

Blackstone is finalising the sale of 10,000 mortgages loans to CarVal Investors for nearly €1 billion. Blackstone originally acquired the loans as part of a €5.5-billion portfolio it bought from Catalunya Banc in 2014.

After the sale, which Blackstone expects to finalise in the coming days, the U.S. firm will still own another 9,000 lower-quality loans from the Catalan bank.

CarVal Investors specialises in the investment, through various funds, of loan portfolios sold by financial institutions. The company, with offices in Minneapolis, London, New York, Luxembourg and Singapore, has invested more than 20,000 million dollars in nearly 2,000 loan portfolio transactions in 31 countries.

Original Story: Vox Populi – Alberto Ortín

Photo: Europa Press

CPPIB Awards Altamira the Mandate to Manage BBVA’s Former €1.5bn Portfolio

1 March 2019 – Voz Pópuli

The Canadian pension fund (CPPIB) has delegated the management of the Ánfora portfolio, purchased from BBVA, to the servicer Altamira, according to financial sources consulted by this newspaper. Altamira has declined to comment on the reports.

It is a striking decision given that the fund decided to sell its stake in the servicer to DoBank in January, along with Apollo.

Between them, the two funds used to own 85% of Altamira. Santander owns the remaining 15%, although that stake could also end up being sold to DoBank. This operation shows that the Canadian fund continues to trust in Altamira, despite its exit from the company.

Agreement with BBVA

BBVA signed an agreement to sell the aforementioned loan portfolio, which mainly comprises mortgage loans (primarily doubtful and non-performing loans) with a live balance of approximately €1.49 billion to CPPIB in December. That operation formed part of the bank’s strategy to reduce its exposure to real estate risk to a minimum.

In the last two years, BBVA has closed a series of operations that form part of that real estate strategy, including the transfer of its real estate business in Spain to Cerberus, which was announced in November 2017 and closed last October.

The acquisition of 100% of the share capital of the servicer has been valued at €412 million in business value terms, according to Oliver Wyman, strategic advisor to the operation.

Altamira offers NPL services, including the sale, development and administration of real estate assets, advisory services and portfolio administration activities. In 2017, it had a market share of 15% in Spain, with assets amounting to more than €140 billion and a workforce of 2,200 employees.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by David Cabrera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Kutxabank Sells a €700M Property Developer Loan Portfolio to Bain

21 December 2018 – Cinco Días

Kutxabank has sold a “problem property developer loan” portfolio with a gross valuation of €700 million to a subsidiary of Bain Capital Credit. The portfolio includes doubtful assets and non-performing loans to property developers, according to a statement issued by the entity chaired by Gregorio Villalabeitia (pictured below).

The divestment includes both loans with mortgage guarantees, secured by land for the most part (48% of the total), as well as finished homes (another 29%). They are located in Andalucía and Euskadi.

The transaction has materialised through a competitive bidding process, which has been coordinated by the investment bank Alantra.

Sources at the vendor bank indicate that there is “a great investor appetite” in the market for this type of asset at the moment, a situation that has encouraged the entity to take the decision to divest these assets, the first operation of this kind that it has undertaken in its history.

The divestment will improve Kutxabank’s results this year and will reduce its exposure in the courts, due to the costs associated with the litigation relating to these assets. The bank has already calculated that, following this operation, its default ratio will improve by 50 basis points to fall below 4%.

The sale of the real estate portfolio will also have a positive impact on the bank’s CTE 1 capital ratio, which will increase by 10 basis points. According to the bank, it will thereby consolidate its position of leadership as the most solvent entity in the country.

Bain Capital Credit, with 200 employees, invests in the entire spectrum of loans, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds and structured products, amongst others. Bain Capital has been advised in this operation by Copernicus, Aura, JLL and Allen & Overy.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Blackstone’s Socimi Torbel Debuts on the MAB at €11.45/Share

5 July 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Torbel Investments, the new Socimi owned by the US fund Blackstone, is going to make its debut on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) this Thursday at a price of €11.45 per share, giving the company a market value of €92.2 million.

Torbel, the second Socimi that is going to be managed by Anticipa Real Estate, owns a portfolio of 2,495 assets – 2,165 of the properties are flats and family homes, and the remainder are commercial premises, parking spaces and storerooms -, which have a combined market value of €218 million.

These assets are distributed throughout Spain, with the Community of Valencia accounting for the largest share – it is home to 36.5% of the total between the provinces of Valencia and Alicante -, followed by Cataluña, with 17.8% of the total, and Madrid with 15.9%. The remaining 30% are located in Andalucía and Castilla-La Mancha.

All of these assets, whose overall occupancy rate amounts to around 58% (tenants are being sought for the remaining 42%), proceed from the Empire portfolio that Blackstone purchased from Banco Sabadell between 2016 and 2017; they are managed by the US fund’s subsidiary Anticipa.

Anticipa Real Estate was constituted in 2014 after passing into the hands of Blackstone and has been an evolving entity ever since. It has gone from being a servicer that managed assets for third parties to being a management platform of real estate assets and mortgage loans, all with the aim of becoming the leading residential rental manager in Spain.

Torbel is the fourth residential Socimi that Blackstone has debuted on the stock market in Spain following Fidere Patrimonio, Corona Patrimonial and Albirana Properties.

Original story: Voz Pópuli 

Translation: Carmel Drake

VBARE Secures an Additional €1.5M to Finance New Investments

2 February 2018 – Press Release

The Socimi has signed three mortgage loans to finance its on-going investments in Madrid, as well as in Spain’s main capitals. 

VBARE Iberian Properties Socimi (VBARE) has raised financing for its next round of investments after signing three mortgage loans amounting to almost €1.5 million (€1,491,786.69) in total and secured by some of the company’s assets in Madrid.

The first loan, from Banco de Crédito Cooperativo, dated 29 January, is secured by 15 assets located in different parts of Madrid and amounts to €675,786.69. The other two have been signed with Banco Sabadell and are secured by two other buildings, also located in Madrid, for a combined sum of €816,000.

According to VBARE’s Director General, Fabrizio Agrimi (pictured above), the Socimi finds itself in a time of great investor appetite, “we are analysing several investment opportunities, not only in Madrid but also in the main Spanish cities”.

Achieving an initial net return of at least 4% without leverage and a discount on the acquisition price of 4% over the market value are the criteria that the Socimi has established in its investment strategy for new assets.

VBARE is a real estate investment vehicle specialising in the acquisition and management of residential assets for rental. It operates under the special Socimi regime and has been listed on the MAB since 23 December 2016 (…).

VBARE currently has a portfolio comprising 197 assets. To date, the company has analysed assets worth more than €500 million and is constantly on the lookout for new business opportunities that fit with its investment policy.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Notaries: House Sales Rose by 10.1% in November but House Prices Fell by 0.9%

9 January 2018 – Eje Prime

The positive steps that the housing sector in Spain took in 2017 are continuing. That is according to data from the General Council of Notaries relating to November 2017, when 46,722 transactions were signed, up by 10.1% compared to the same period in 2016.

Nevertheless, the residential sector was hit by a slight decrease in value, with a decrease of 0.9% in house prices, taking the average price per square metre of properties acquired in Spain during November to €1,288/m2. According to the College of Notaries, this decrease in house prices was driven by a reduction in the price of family homes, which suffered a decrease of 1.3%, and flats, whose prices fell by 0.1%.

In terms of the different types of homes, private flats saw a YoY volume increase of 8.9%, with a notable expansion in the number of new build homes (9.5% more) and also in the number of second-hand homes (8.9% more). Despite that, the property segment that grew by the most was family homes, with an increase of 13.7% with respect to November 2016.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgages also grew during the penultimate month of 2017. Loans to buy homes increased by 0.6%, with 28,834 mortgage applications and an average mortgage loan of €169,163.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tecnocasa: Second-Hand House Prices Rose By 12% In Barcelona In H1

6 September 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate recovery varies by neighbourhood. Whilst in smaller cities such as Zaragoza and Sevilla, second-hand house prices rose by 1.7% and 2.1% during the first half of the year, in Madrid and Barcelona, the value per square metre soared at a rate of 7.3% and 12.7%, respectively. On average, in Spain, second-hand house prices rose by 8.24% during H1, according to the latest report from the estate agent Tecnocasa and the Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

It is the largest increase registered in a single 6-month period since the price curve hit rock bottom at the end of 2013 and began its recovery with a slight increase of 1.12% at the end of 2014.

At that time, at the height of the real estate depression, the cumulative decrease in second-hand house prices peaked at 57% with respect to 2007. Nowadays, prices are 48.10% below the peaks recorded before the crash. The average value amounted to €3,500/m2 then, compared with €1,811/m2 now.

Despite the dizzying increase in prices currently being seen, there are no signs that a new bubble is being created. The CEO at Tecnocasa, Paolo Boarini, said yesterday that one of the most important factors to take into account is “the new attitude of the banks”. Whilst in 2007, mortgage loans represented 86% of the value of homes on average, that ratio has now decreased to 72%. (…). Moreover, mortgages that exceed the value of the home are no longer being granted, which was not the case during the years leading up to the burst of the bubble.

Tecnocasa’s report points to the ratio between the monthly mortgage instalment and a borrower’s monthly income, which is also one of the most significant risk indicators. To minimise the risk of non-payment, it is recommended that the aforementioned ratio not exceed 35%. At the end of H1 2017, the ratio between the mortgage instalment and the monthly income of mortgage applicants amounted to 25.5%. On average, mortgages in Spain cost around €375 per month (…).

In terms of the bargaining power in the market, according to data from Tecnocasa, the discount made by sellers with respect to the initial price was 2.7% in 2005, a figure that rose to 13.4% in 2012 and that currently stands at around 5.1% (…).

The study performed by Tecnocasa and the UPF is based on data from transactions brokered by the real estate agent itself involving loans advised by Kíron, the financial services company owned by the same group. José García-Montalvo, professor at the UPF and coordinator of the document, stressed that, unlike other reports, this document uses only real prices of actual sales and not the initial asking prices of homes for sale.

The most expensive square metre in Spain’s major cities was located in Barcelona for another half-year, at €2,754/m2, followed by Madrid, at €1,970/m2. The cheapest major cities include Córdoba (€1,009/m2) and Valencia (€893/m2).

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sabadell Places €1,000M In 10-Year Mortgage Bonds

20 April 2017 – Expansión

It has taken Sabadell just four months to debut on the debt market this year. Yesterday, it completed the placement of €1,000 million in mortgage bonds with a maturity of 10 years, to leave Popular as the only entity that, given the uncertainty surrounding its specific situation, has not resorted to the capital markets to raise finance or secure resources for its capital buffer.

For these bonds, Sabadell is offering a coupon of 1%, in other words, 33 basis points above the mid-swap rate, the reference rate for issuances of fixed income securities in euros. The mortgage bonds are the safest debt that an entity can issue, given that, in Spain, they are guaranteed by all of the mortgage loans of the issuing bank, which serve as collateral in the event of bankruptcy. There has never been a default of this kind in Spain.

To carry out the operation, Sabadell has received help from Barclays, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, Lloyds and Natixis, as well as from its own investment banking team. Demand for the bond issue amounted to €2,400 million, in other words, more than twice the amount awarded.

Santander Totta

Meanwhile, Santander Totta, the Portuguese subsidiary of Santander, launched an order yesterday to place 7- and 10-year mortgage bonds. According to sources in the market, the operation will close tomorrow and will serve to raise cheap financing. Besides Santander, the following entities are participating in that operation: Unicredit, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale.

Original story: Expansión (by A. Stumpf)

Translation: Carmel Drake