FGH, the real estate unit of Dutch lender Rabobank, has announced the sale of a portfolio of real estate loans to an unnamed Dutch institutional investor for €650 mln.
The transaction will allow Rabobank to make space for new business and is in line with the company's strategy to create a new property unit, Rabo Real Estate Finance.
The investment in the performing loan package will also provide an 'attractive return' for the institutional buyer, according to FGH. The conditions of the loans will remain unchanged, it added.
The transaction comes just a few weeks after the disposal of Dutch state-owned bad bank Propertize for around €895 mln, in one of the largest transactions so far this year in the Netherlands.
A joint venture between US private equity firm Lone Star Funds and JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy the unit for a discount of just over 30% to the gross value of the Propertize assets.
As part of the deal, which is expected to close in September, the Dutch State will take over the outstanding guaranteed debt of Propertize, a bond with a value of €2.35 bn, with Propertize transferring the same amount to the State, plus accrued interest.
To make the payment Propertize will use available equity as well as a financing from the buyers, if necessary, a spokesperson for Propertize's previous owner NLFI said. As such, the transaction ends the State guarantee on Propertize's financing.
