Tag: Project Ánfora

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

BBVA Sells its Stake in Avantespacia to Manuel Jove’s RE Company

8 January 2019 – El Economista

BBVA is continuing to divest property. This time with the sale of its stake in Avantespacia Inmobiliaria, the company that it constituted in 2016 to undertake real estate projects in Spain.

The entity has sold its remaining 30% stake in the firm to Inveravante, the holding company owned by the businessman Manuel Jove, the founding partner of the real estate company, who now owns the entire firm.

With this operation, Avantespacia “is strengthening its commitment to the residential real estate sector in Spain, with housing developments in the prime areas of the main provincial capitals of our country”, said the company in a note.

This operation forms part of a company restructuring process of the real estate division of Inveravante with the aim of “charting a global strategy, in accordance with the challenges that the sector poses for the future in both the domestic and international spheres”.

Jove’s company, founded in 2007 in A Coruña, divides its activity into different business areas, since in addition to real estate, it also works in the hotel segment, in selected agri-food products, and in the energy sector. Currently, the company has an international presence and operates in Morocco, Mexico, Brazil, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Germany and Romania.

BBVA has been one of the most active entities in the sale of loan portfolios, signing its most recent operation on 26 December with the sale of Project Ánfora to an entity managed by the Canadian pension fund CPPIB. Specifically, it sold a portfolio of loans comprising mainly doubtful and non-performing mortgage loans, with a live balance of approximately €1.49 billion (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Sells its Last Large Problem Portfolio to CPPIB

17 December 2018 – El Confidencial

The Canadian fund CPPIB has been awarded BBVA’s last major portfolio of problem assets. The investor, which manages the money of the public pensions in the North American country, is negotiating the final details of its purchase of €2.5 billion in unpaid real estate loans from the Spanish entity, according to financial sources consulted by El Confidencial. BBVA declined to comment.

The sale, framed as Project Ánfora, is going to close within the next few days.

CPPIB has won the bid, fighting off competition from two major US investors: Cerberus and Lone Star. The auction has been coordinated by Alantra and, according to average market prices, must have been closed for a price of around €1 billion.

For BBVA, this same represents almost the conclusion of the clean up of its real estate inheritance. Together with Project Ánfora, the entity, which is still chaired by Francisco González, agreed to sell €12-13 billion in property to Cerberus (Project Marina) a year ago. The final details of that operation are still being closed with the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD).

Before the sale of Ánfora and Marina, BBVA had a net real estate exposure of €5.5 billion, based on data as at September 2018. The aim is for the real estate inheritance to be reduced to almost zero by the end of the year.

The Ánfora portfolio also contains refinanced loans amounting to €900 million, a new type of asset in this type of process.

For CPPIB, this is the second batch of problem assets that it has purchased from BBVA this year. It already acquired Project Sintra, containing €1 billion in unpaid loans to property developers.

The Canadian fund broke into Spain a few years ago with the acquisition of Altamira, together with Apollo and the ADIA sovereign fund, the main investor vehicle of Abu Dhabi. CPPIB’s interest in Spanish real estate means that it cannot be ruled out that it will end up being the buyer of Altamira following the current sales process. Large vehicles such as the Canadian one use alternative assets such as properties to diversify their portfolios and reduce their dependence on stock market and bonds.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Project Ánfora: BBVA Studies €1bn+ Offers from Cerberus, CPPIB & Lone Star

19 November 2018 – Voz Pópuli

BBVA has chosen the three finalists who are going to compete for the largest portfolio of assets currently on the market, Project Ánfora. The entity is holding negotiations with three major North American funds, Cerberus, CPPIB and Lone Star, according to financial sources consulted by Voz Pópuli.

Up for grabs: a portfolio a real estate loans worth €2.5 billion. Some of the offers exceed €1 billion, according to the same sources.

BBVA expects to conclude the process before the end of the year to whereby end 2018 in the best way possible. It will be the last set of annual accounts with Francisco González as President, and at the current pace, they could be closed with one of the largest profits in the group’s history. The entity earned €4.3 billion to September; its record annual profit to date is €6.1 billion, which is registered in 2007.

In addition to Project Ánfora, BBVA has just closed Project Marina: the sale of its real estate arm Anida and of assets worth €13 billion to Cerberus. Nevertheless, the transfer of a large part of those assets, which proceeded from Unnim, is pending authorisation by the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD).

Property to zero

Following those two operations, and others in the past – such as the sale of its stake in Testa – the property left on BBVA’s balance sheet is going to almost immaterial. With that, the CEO, Carlos Torres, hopes that the real estate unit will stop weighing down on the group’s income statement from 2019 onwards.

The favourite of the candidates to purchase the €2.5 billion portfolio is Cerberus. Not only because of the appetite that the US fund has been showing regarding the purchase of real estate assets in Spain, but also because of the interest that it will have in Divarian, the new Anida, continuing to manage the assets.

CPPIB (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) is the other entity that is backing the Spanish market most heavily, through its stake in Altamira and the acquisition of portfolios from Sabadell and BBVA.

Meanwhile, Lone Star has started investing more money in Spain following the changes in its management team and because it wants to gain volume to make its acquisition of CaixaBank’s property profitable.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Puts another €2.5bn Property Portfolio up for Sale

12 September 2018 – Voz Pópuli

BBVA’s exposure to the real estate sector will have been reduced to almost zero by the end of the year. Following the sale of almost all of its property to Cerberus, the entity chaired by Francisco González has decided to accelerate the divestment of its remaining delinquent loans. To this end, it has entrusted the sale of €2.5 billion in problem loans to Alantra, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli.

The operation has not been put on the market yet but it is expected to be communicated to opportunistic funds within a matter of days, maybe even this week. The name of the operation is Project Ánfora.

The operation is expected to be completed during the last quarter of the year. In that case, the year-end accounts for 2018, the final set that González will present, will reflect the fact that BBVA will have become the first large Spanish entity to clean up all of its real estate inheritance, with the exception of Bankinter, which barely had any to start with.

The latest official figures, as at June 2018, show that BBVA had real estate exposure amounting to €14.9 billion: €2.5 billion in loans to property developers and €11.5 billion in foreclosed assets, whose transfer to Cerberus will be closed soon.

Sudden push

Another entity that has also accelerated its clean-up process in recent months is Santander, with Project Apple, amounting to €5 billion, whose sale is currently being finalised, also to Cerberus. Afterwards, it will be left with another €5 billion to divest. The exposures of CaixaBank, Sabadell and Bankia are still above that level.

With this sudden push, the banks are seeking to fulfil the mandate established by the ECB and make their businesses in Spain profitable, which have been weighed down over the last decade by the digestion of property.

The sources consulted explain that Project Ánfora includes relatively small loans, such as mortgages and SME credits, which received financing linked to properties.

In addition to Ánfora and Marina – the sale of foreclosed assets to Cerberus – this year, BBVA has also closed the transfer of the Sintra portfolio to the largest Canadian fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), containing €1 billion in loans to property developers.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake