Tag: Project Marina

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

BNP Paribas: Property Sales by Banks Amounted to €73.5bn in 9 Months to September

30 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Financial institutions are continuing to put their real estate on the market. The sale of portfolios of real estate assets by banks is expected to amount to €16.5 billion between October and December, according to the latest report published by BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The entity’s latest report reflects that sales amounting to €73.5 billion were made during the nine months to September. “The pressure that the European Central Bank is exerting on the financial entities to ensure that they do not speculate with the assets they hold on their balance sheets is generating a wave of sales of large portfolios of residential assets”, said David Alonso, Director of Research at BNP Paribas España, according to reports from Cinco Días.

The largest operations undertaken so far this year relate to Banco Santander, with the sale of Project Quasar to the investment fund Blackstone for €30 billion; the sale by the bank BBVA of Project Marina to Cerberus for €13 billion; and the sale by CaixaBank to LoneStar of 80% of its real estate business for €12.8 billion.

Despite the eye-wateringly large figures highlighted in the report, the funds acquiring the properties tend to obtain an average discount of 65% and so the final prices are considerably lower than the nominal value in each case. “The main buyers are opportunistic investment funds and when it comes to completing their purchases, they typically demand discounts of between 50% and 80% of the asset value”, explained Alonso.

The arrival of new players with an appetite for the Spanish real estate market, such as the Socimis, investment funds and joint ventures, has boosted the purchase of several debt portfolios from bank entities in recent years. “They are agents that were not present six years ago; with these purchases, they have helped the banks to significantly reduce the property on their balance sheets, and they have also increased the control over loans to property developers and the management of residential buildings for profit”, said Alonso.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cerberus, Blackstone & Lone Star Ask Sabadell to Sell Solvia with its Real Estate

23 April 2018 – Bolsa Mania

The large opportunistic funds are setting their sights on Banco Sabadell to close one of the major operations in Europe of 2018. The sounding out process initiated by the Catalan entity to transfer around €7.5 billion in real estate assets, as published by this newspaper, is generating a lot of interest amongst the large international funds, according to Vozpópuli.

At least three of them are examining the portfolio carefully: Cerberus, Blackstone and Lone Star, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. The third is the only one that was left out of the major operations signed in 2017 involving: Popular’s real estate – Project Quasar – which Blackstone purchased; and BBVA’s property – Project Marina, which Cerberus acquired, and which is pending final approval. For the time being, the other ‘usual suspect’ Apollo is not involved in the latest operation.

The same sources add that the funds have suggested that Solvia should be included in the sale. That would achieve several objectives: it would retain the managers that know the assets and add volume to their real estate platforms in a sector that is in the midst of consolidation. Cerberus owns Haya Real Estate, which is in the process of making its stock market debut; and Blackstone owns Anticipa and Aliseda. Meanwhile, Lone Star has experience in the sector as it was the inspiration behind Neinor.

Original story: Bolsa Mania

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Considers Slicing Up Haya Real Estate’s €24bn Mega-Contract

27 March 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Sareb is already working on a new tender for its largest management contract. Specifically, it involves old real estate loans from Bankia worth €24 billion that are currently being administered by Haya Real Estate, the real estate arm of Cerberus. The contract is due to terminate at the end of 2019, but Sareb is already working on different options to launch a tender in the short-term and for the portfolio to be awarded in just over a year.

One of the options on the table involves slicing up the contract into two or more mandates, according to confirmation provided by Sareb to this newspaper.

There are several options under consideration at the moment. The first, placing the €24 billion (in gross terms, the figure amounts to €13 billion in net terms) servicing contract, as it stands today, with a single manager, which could be Haya Real Estate or could be one of its large competitors, such as Altamira, Aktua, Servihabitat, Solvia or Aliseda-Anticipa (Blackstone).

That scenario is the one that most interests Haya Real Estate, which has a lot at stake with this contract, given that it represents 60% of its assets under management, and the firm is in the midst of its stock market debut. It is interested because Cerberus’s platform is the one that knows the assets the best and has the advantage of not having to migrate them, which would slow down Sareb’s rate of sales.

Other options

Alternatively, the mega-contract could be shared out between several platforms. One of the options under consideration is to tender a contract linked to the ownership of the assets. In other words, a large operation like those that Santander and BBVA starred in last year with Blackstone – Project Quasar – and Cerberus – Project Marina -, respectively.

That would also involve the creation of a joint venture company, like the FAB. In this way, Sareb would kill two birds with one stone: deconsolidate assets without forgoing potential gains; and award the management of the assets to a fund-platform.

Another option on the table is to split Haya’s portfolio into two or more batches. That split could be performed by type of asset, linked to the debt (tertiary, residential, land…), or by geographical area, whereby benefitting from the specialisation of the platforms.

The first contract to be renewed is Haya Real Estate’s. The other three are not due to terminate until 2021: Altamira’s with 28,000 properties from the portfolios of Catalunya Banc, Caja 3 and BMN; Solvia’s with 34,000 properties proceeding from Bankia; and Servihabitat’s, with properties and loans from NCG, Liberbank and Banco de Valencia.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Project Makalu: Sabadell Puts €2.5bn Portfolio Up For Sale

21 March 2018 – Vozpópuli

Banco Sabadell is stepping on the accelerator to complete its balance sheet clean up as soon as possible. After months of negotiations with the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD), the Catalan entity has decided to place on the market its first large portfolio proceeding from CAM’s Asset Protection Scheme (EPA). In this way, it has distributed information to investors about Project Makalu, comprising €2.5 billion in assets from the former Alicante-based savings bank, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli.

This operation comprises foreclosed assets and unpaid loans from companies and individuals covered by the EPA. It follows another portfolio that has been on the market for a few days, Project Galerna, comprising €900 million in non-performing loans.

KPMG is advising Sabadell on both operations, which together comprise assets and loans worth €3.4 billion.

The group chaired by Josep Oliu has been negotiating with the FGD for months to try to kick-start these operations. The aim is that they will be followed by two more portfolios taking the total value of the assets for sale to €12 billion and whereby reset the entity’s real estate calculator. The issue is not simple because the sale of these loans may generate a hole for the Fund that would impact the State deficit.

Strategic plan

The Catalan entity announced at the recent launch of its strategic plan in London that it maintains the objective of reducing its exposure to problem assets at a rate of €2 billion per year. With the sale of Project Makalu alone it would more than exceed that goal.

The bank held €15.2 billion in problem assets at the end of 2017, but the forecasts indicate that that figure will fall below €9 billion by 2020: €4 billion in doubtful loans and €5 billion in foreclosed assets. And that is without taking into account the divestments that are now being worked on with the FGD.

Project Makalu is the fourth largest portfolio of problem assets ever to be put up for sale by a Spanish bank, behind only Popular’s Project Quasar, amounting to €30 billion, purchased by Blackstone; BBVA’s Project Marina, amounting to €13 billion, acquired by Cerberus; and Project Hercules, amounting to €6.4 billion in mortgages from Catalunya Banc, which was bought by Blackstone.

Meanwhile, Project Galerna is similar to Project Gregal, which Sabadell sold less than a year ago to three funds: Grove, D. E. Shaw and Lindorff. That portfolio comprised loans linked to consumers, without real estate guarantees, which had already been fully written off, and so all of the proceeds from the sale were recorded directly as gains.

Precedents

Besides Gregal, Sabadell closed two other major operations last year: Normandy, comprising €950 million in property developer loans, which was acquired by Oaktree, and which also proceeded from CAM’s EPA; and Voyager, comprising €800 million, which was purchased by the largest pension fund in Canada.

The latest operation launched by Sabadell joins others recently placed on the market by Sareb, BBVA, Cajamar and Kutxabank.

Original story: Vozpópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Project Sintra: BBVA Engages PwC to Sell €1bn of Toxic Loans

13 March 2018 – Voz Pópuli

BBVA does not want to waste any more time on the real estate clean-up exercise. In the last few days, the entity chaired by Francisco González has launched a €1 billion portfolio on the market: Project Sintra, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli. It is being advised in the operation by PwC. Neither the bank nor the consultancy firm wanted to comment.

This portfolio is the penultimate step for BBVA in the reduction of its real estate exposure to zero, after the agreement it reached with Cerberus to transfer €13 billion of foreclosed assets, as this newspaper revealed. That sale, Project Marina, is still pending the necessary authorisations and is scheduled to be closed in the middle of this year.

The balance of BBVA’s divestments is as follows: before Project Marina, the entity had a gross exposure (not including provisions) of almost €16 billion, which will end up at just over €3 billion. Of that figure, two-thirds relate to unpaid loans linked to land and completed developments, with a coverage ratio of 54%.

With this new operation, BBVA wants to be crowned as the first major entity to get rid of its inheritance from the crisis. Last year, Santander closed the sale of €30 billion from Popular to Blackstone, but it still has €11.7 billion left to divest.

The same stars

With Project Sintra, BBVA has now awarded the mandate for three consecutive operations to PwC. It did so with Project Jaipur, worth €600 million, which was acquired by Cerberus; and Project Marina, which had the same advisor and buyer.

The latter operation generated unease amongst certain funds, which complained to the bank because it had not opened a competitive process, but instead chose to negotiate one on one with Cerberus. Sources close to that operation defended that a bilateral sale could optimise both the price and an auction, thanks to the threat of opening the process to more rivals.

In this way, BBVA is one of the entities that has decided to accelerate the sale of portfolios during the first quarter, like Sareb, which is finalising the sale of between three and four packages: Nora, Bidasoa, Dune and Slap, with a combined volume of €3.2 billion.

One of the most fashionable assets and one that entities are increasingly including in their portfolios is land. In this way, Sareb is preparing an operation containing land only and Kutxabank is evaluating a similar process.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Morgan Stanley Lends Cerberus €3bn to Purchase BBVA’s RE

1 December 2017 – Voz Pópuli

Of the cheque for €4 billion that BBVA is going to receive for the sale of its foreclosed real estate, €3 billion will be coming from Morgan Stanley’s coffers. The US investment bank has been awarded the mandate to finance Cerberus’s operation, whereby fighting off competition from other international and Spanish entities, according to financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli.

Unlike in the case of Blackstone and Popular-Santander, Cerberus has decided to close its financing arrangements in advance, even though the small print of the agreement will still take a few months to negotiate.

As this newspaper revealed, BBVA has agreed to sell all of its foreclosed assets to the US fund in an operation worth €5 billion. A new company will be created to which assets worth €13 billion and the Anida platform with its 450 employees will be transferred, with the option of also moving another 150 employees from the bank. And Cerberus will buy an 80% stake in this company for around €4 billion.

The figures may still vary slightly over the next few months, given that both BBVA and the fund have to review which assets have exited the portfolio in recent months because they have been sold (through the network).

The start

The operation, known as Project Marina, was launched at the beginning of June and is expected to be closed with a discount of approximately 61%, which is lower than the 67% that Santander obtained from its sale of Popular’s real estate.

That sale – Project Quasar – is also pending completion, expected during the first quarter of 2018.

After removing €13 billion in foreclosed assets from its balance sheet, BBVA will put one or more property developer loan portfolios on the market over the next year or so, as it continues to accelerate the digestion of its property assets. Those portfolios will be similar in size to Project Jaipur (€0.6 billion), which was also awarded to Cerberus.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Awaits FGD’s Approval To Sell €14,000M RE Portfolio To Cerberus

13 November 2017 – Voz Pópuli

The largest operation of the home stretch of 2017 is pushing ahead. BBVA and Cerberus are close to reaching an agreement regarding the sale of a large proportion of the bank’s real estate assets to the US fund. Financial sources consulted by Vozpópuli indicate that a deal may be signed within the next few weeks, between late November and early December.

One of the points still being discussed is the perimeter (of the transaction). The sources consulted indicate that what is on the table is the option of selling a stake in a new company with assets and loans worth €14,000 million.

The same sources add that an agreement could have already been reached if it hadn’t been for the crisis in Cataluña and the need for the Deposit Guarantee Fund (‘Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos’ or FGD) to give its approval. BBVA received an asset protection scheme (‘Esquema de protección de activos’ or EPA) for which the FGD committed to cover “80% of the losses resulting from a portfolio of assets worth €7,359.7 million”.

BBVA has real estate exposure on its balance sheet amounting to €17,774 million in total, according to the most recent figures. Of that figure, foreclosed assets (€11,937 million) and doubtful loans (€3,357 million) account for €15,300 million. Those loans and properties have a coverage ratio of more than 61%. For this reason, BBVA could sell them for 39% of their appraisal value without having to recognise any losses. Even so, the FGD would still need to approve any deal.

The need for consent from the FGD could delay any asset sale for several months. That is what has happened, on more than one occasion, to Banco Sabadell, such as with Project Normandy. It is worth remembering that the FGD’s Management Committee comprises not only regulators and Government members but also bankers, who do not want to spend even one more euro of their resources (…).

Although BBVA’s sale (known as Project Marina and Sena) is on track, the sources consulted indicate that it could all be thrown up in the air at any moment. “It would not be the first time that an operation that has almost been finalised dies off because of one of BBVA’s management committees or Board of Director meetings”, they say. The same thing is happening with Cerberus, one of the most inflexible funds when it comes to price: “Once the price has been fixed, it is very difficult to move it or play with counter-offers”, they add.

This operation has generated a lot of commotion amongst other opportunistic funds, many of whom were not invited to participate, and who have even indicated their displeasure to BBVA’s leaders. The negotiations between Cerberus and the bank arose after the fund’s President, John W. Snow (former US Treasury Secretary) cracked the whip over his own management team in Spain. He did so after Cerberus missed out on the sale of Popular’s real estate, which was awarded to Blackstone.

Snow himself decided to come to Madrid in person to meet with the President of BBVA, Francisco González (pictured above) and propose an operation similar in size to Project Quasar (Popular). Indeed, Cerberus purchased a €600 million portfolio from the bank in June, Project Jaipur, which gave rise to the current negotiations.

Although the operation still hangs in the balance, BBVA has never been as close to sealing an agreement like this one. There is a lot of optimism amongst the advisors to the operation, PwC and Linklaters. But, for the time being, anything can happen.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Project Inés: Deutsche Finalises Purchase Of Sareb’s €400M Portfolio

17 October 2017 – Voz Pópuli

Sareb is at a critical point in one of its most important transactions of the year. The bad bank is negotiating with Deutsche Bank regarding the sale of the largest portfolio it has brought onto the market in the last 12 months. The portfolio in question is Project Inés and it was initially worth €500 million, but its final perimeter will amount to €400 million, according to financial sources consulted by Voz Pópuli. Oaktree and Bank of America also participated in the bid until the final round, but their offers were lower than Deutsche Bank’s bid. Sources at Sareb declined to comment.

Those three international investors were the final candidates after dozens of other funds interested in the operation fell by the wayside. One of the last candidates to be ruled out was KKR.

The portfolio comprises unpaid loans secured by residential assets in Madrid, Cataluña, Andalucía and Zaragoza. The inclusion of assets in Cataluña, despite everything that is currently happening in that autonomous region, caused many of the funds to hesitate and deduct value from their bids, according to the financial sources consulted by this newspaper.

These types of operations are key for Sareb to accelerate the rate of asset sales, given that it has been given the mandate of divesting €50,000 million of problem assets within 15 years; that period started at the end of 2012. The latest figures show that the cumulative divestment to the end of 2016 amounted to almost €10,000 million, leaving a balance of €40,134 million on the books.

Other operations

Project Inés is not the only operation that Sareb has underway. It has also put a portfolio worth €400 million on the market through an online platform for funds. On the portal, investors can bid for loans on an individual basis (Project Dubai), like they did with Haya Real Estate last year.

Moreover, it has just put another portfolio, known as Project Tambo, on the market through CBRE. That portfolio contains non-performing loans to property developers, worth €300 million.

Sareb normally accumulates lots of operations of this kind at the end of the year. In 2016, it sold seven portfolios after the summer, for a total combined value of almost €1,300 million. The largest portfolio was Project Eloise, which was awarded to Goldman Sachs.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are two regulars in these types of operations. In fact, the German bank already acquired two small portfolios from Sareb at the end of last year, known as Project Sevilla and Project Marina, for a combined total of €160 million.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake