US private equity group Bain Capital has inked the acquisition of €200 mln of property assets from Italian lender Banca Popolare di Vicenza (BPVI) in administration.
PropertyEU reported back in September that the US giant was the front runner for portfolio in what is its first direct property deal in Italy. Lazard advised the buyer.
The deal takes the form of a share transaction involving Immobiliare Stampa, the property arm of BPVI, which was put into administration in June 2017.
The package, which was put up for sale in May last year through adviser Vitale & Co Real Estate, comprises more than 200 buildings, including two trophy assets – BPVI’s offices on Milan’s central Via Turati and on Rome’s Via del Tritone.
There is also an office in Vicenza, in the northern Veneto region, and other buildings in the Veneto, Tuscany and Sicily regions.
The portfolio no longer includes the head office of bank Fineco in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto area, which has already been sold to its occupier for €70 mln. A portion of the assets will be leased back to lender Intesa San Paolo, which has become a minority shareholder in Immobiliare Stampa after taking over the performing part of the BPVI business last year.
Market experts say Bain is paying a price ‘in line with today’s market values’, although the €270 mln portfolio of Immobiliare Stampa was originally valued at €400 mln. The deal includes a platform of 20 Immobiliare Stampa professionals which will continue to manage Bain's real estate portfolio in Italy, together with the group's existing ACS (formerly Hypo Alpe Adria) team in the country.
Bain has grown aggressively in Italy in recent years, having entered the country’s NPL market in 2017 with the acquisition of Heta Asset Resolution Italia (Harit), the bad bank of Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank.
Last month Bain also emerged as the exclusive bidder on a portfolio of 10 Italian assets managed by Amundi. The office properties – worth €150-€200 mln – include the headquarters of mobile phone giant Wind in Rome, and Henkel Group’s head office in Milan.
Held by Amundi Italia and Amundi Europa funds, the properties are in vehicles expiring at the end of the year and are expected to sell well below acquisition cost largely as a result of the high vacancy rate – 30% across the two funds – as well as the assets’ secondary locations. Lazard is advising Amundi on the deal.
