Tag: portfolio sale

Aura REE Advises Sankaty On Purchase Of €560M Portfolio From Bankia

7 May 2015 – Sankaty Press Release

Sankaty Advisors, LLC, the independently managed credit affiliate of Bain Capital, announced yesterday that it has acquired a portfolio of secured loans from BFA-Bankia Group, through a controlled affiliate.

Aura REE provided real estate valuation advice on the transaction; J&A Garrigues acted as legal advisor; and Copernicus, a Spanish financial services company, assisted Sankaty with the transaction due diligence and will also act as the servicer for the portfolio post-acquisition.

The portfolio—which has a par value of €560 million—is made up of defaulted bilateral and syndicated Spanish real estate developer and SME loans, secured primarily on various real estate collateral. This is Sankaty’s second loan portfolio transaction with Bankia in the last 12 months, which further develops its experience and understanding of the Spanish market.

“We are excited to be making this investment in Spain, our second acquisition in the market in the last 6 months. This transaction further enhances our track record of investing in complex and idiosyncratic portfolios across Europe, where we have the ability to leverage our experience while remaining flexible to maximize value for our investors,” said Alon Avner, a Managing Director and Head of Sankaty’s European business, which has bought €2.7 billion in loan portfolios from European banks over the last three years.

Original story: Sankaty Press Release

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Sareb Is Selling The Assets It Inherited From Polaris

7 May 2015 – Expansión

The company has appointed N+1 to manage the sale of 3 golf courses, two 5-star hotels and several residential estates.

Sareb wants to cut its ties with one of the ‘great chapters’ of the real estate bubble as soon as possible. In the last few days, the company chaired by Jaime Echegoyen has started the process to dispose of the property it inherited from Polaris World, by putting a portfolio with a nominal value of €500 million up for sale. The market price may amount to less than half of that value.

The portfolio comprises three golf courses, two five-star hotels and several residential complexes, built in Murcia by Polaris, which Sareb inherited in the form of property developer loans from Banco Valencia and Bankia. The sale also includes loans with real estate collateral that have not yet been foreclosed.

Sareb has appointed N+1 to manage the process and according to sources at funds consulted by Expansión, the firm has already distributed information to potential investors (corresponding to the so-called) Project Birdie.

The assets and loans up for sale come from Inversiones en Resorts del Mediterráneo (IRM), a company created in 2009 by Bancaja, Banco de Valencia, Popular and CAM to manage the Polaris assets that were left after the property developer’s debt was restructured.

Sareb’s decision to sell has generated confusion for the other two creditors, Banco Popular and Sabadell – following the latter’s absorption of CAM – because they were not notified (in advance) and because they believe that the best way of maximising the value from IRM’s assets is a block sale, given that they comprise a single residential estate and six golf courses. As a result, it is likely that these entities will contact Sareb over the next few days with a view to repositioning the sale.

When IRM was created, the company held assets worth €991 million, although by the end of 2013 – the latest available accounts – they had deteriorated (in value) by almost €500 million. The owners of its capital are Sabadell – covered by CAM’s EPA (Asset Protection Scheme or Esquema de Protección de Activos) – Bankia, CaixaBank and Popular.

Original story: Expansión (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Plans To Reduce Its NPL Balance By A Further €2,000M In 2015

9 March 2015 – Expansión

Bankia hopes to reduce its non-performing loan balance by another €2,000 million in 2015, whereby repeating the success of 2014; it also expects to close the sale of new bad debt portfolios during the year.

At a recent meeting with analysts, the CEO of Bankia, José Sevilla, said that the bank has the capacity to continue decreasing its bad debt balance, which amounted to €16,457 million at the end of 2014, €3,475 million lower than a year earlier.

During 2014, Bankia reduced its non-performing loan balance by €1,900 million (organically) and sold loan portfolios amounting to €1,600 million.

And the forecasts for 2015 are equally optimistic, since Sevilla expects that the doubtful balance will decrease by a further €2,000 million organically and in parallel, Bankia expects to close the sale of new bad debt portfolios.

He revealed that the bank currently has several bad debt portfolios ready for sale and it is finding investors that are willing to pay “better” prices, added the “number two” at the group chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri.

By way of example, he cited portfolios of loans to specific businesses, such as those relating to the hotel sector, where the entity has already found buyers that are offering “reasonable” prices.

The organic reduction in the bad debt balance, together with the sale of new portfolios, makes the CEO think that 2015 will be another year in which Bankia will significantly reduce its doubtful debt balance and therefore its default rate, although that will also be affected by the evolution of its loans.

At the end of 2014, the entity’s default rate was 12.86%, the lowest rate in two years and significantly lower than the figure recorded a year earlier (14.65%).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake