Deutsche Pfandbriefbank to re-open Nordic office

German property lender Deutsche Pfandbriefbank expects to be able to re-open its Stockholm office this summer. Anders Tagt, head of the bank's Nordic business, said he hoped to receive the licence from the Swedish authorities shortly.

''We intend a balanced and smooth start-up in the Nordics,' Tagt said. 'The focus will be on working with existing clients and new ones to fund investment transactions,' he added. At a later stage the bank will consider providing development finance but only on an ‘extremely limited basis’.

Tagt made the comments during PropertyEU's Nordic Investment Briefing held last week in London. The event was hosted by CBRE.

Tagt headed Deutsche Pfandbriefbank’s operation in the Nordics for seven years to 2008 and was responsible for a lending portfolio of EUR 3.5 bn. He left in 2008 and joined investor Doughty Hanson at the start of 2009. He has since returned to the German lender and is based in London.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank shut the Stockholm office in the midst of the credit crisis, and later the bank's EUR 173 bn of non-strategic assets across Europe, including the Nordics, were moved to a bad bank.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank currently has about SEK 20 bn (EUR 2.3 bn) of strategic assets in the Nordics.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank does not have a target size for the business, Tagt said,, but added that the Nordic region is seen as providing the opportunity for stable returns.

The banking sectors in the Nordics is relatively healthy, with the exception of Denmark. The bursting of a housing bubble has contributed to consolidation in the Danish lending sector.

There are about five to six Swedish banks who are lending to real estate. Their strategy is relatively conservative and focused on investment transactions rather than development. 'Our peers are looking forward to our re-entry into the debt market as it is not that deep,' Tagt said.