US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management was the biggest investor in European non-performing loans (NPLs) last year, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield.
US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management was the biggest investor in European non-performing loans (NPLs) last year, according to a new report from Cushman & Wakefield.
Cerberus affiliates invested around €17.7 bn in European NPLs in 2014, accounting for 22% of all closed commercial real estate and real estate-owned transactions.
The firm was particularly active in the fourth quarter, when six transactions made up 41% of the entire European NPL deal volume.
It is the second year in a row that the New York-based firm has topped C&W’s year-end league table.
Lee Millstein, senior managing director at Cerberus, said: ‘We are extremely proud to have earned the trust of many European financial institutions, which recognize our resources for investing in and servicing non-performing loans.’
Major deals concluded by Cerberus affiliates in 2014 included the purchase of the Project Eagle loan portfolio from Ireland’s bad bank National Asset Management Agency for €1.7 bn, at a 70% discount to face value.
The firm also acquired UlsterBank’s Project Aran portfolio for €1.1 bn, a 77% discount, and the €660 mln Project Avon loanbook from the UK’s Lloyds Banking Group for €434 mln, at a 34% discount.
According to C&W data, private equity investors such as Blackstone and Lone Star were responsible for 77% of European debt transactions last year, and are expected to remain at the forefront of activity going forward.
Cerberus has more than €22 bn under management invested in four primary strategies: distressed securities and assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending and real estate-related investments.