A group of buyers including Goldman Sachs has emerged as the buyer of Lloyds Banking Group’s final Irish commercial property loan portfolio, paying £827 mln (€1.2 bn) for the €3.7 bn nominally-valued portfolio.
A group of buyers including Goldman Sachs has emerged as the buyer of Lloyds Banking Group’s final Irish commercial property loan portfolio, paying £827 mln (€1.2 bn) for the €3.7 bn nominally-valued portfolio.
Goldman Sachs, CarVal Investors and Bank of Ireland are buying the package which includes £2.3 bn of impaired loans, or 88% of the total.
The transaction price reflects a 68% discount to face value.
'The sale is in line with the group’s strategy of deleveraging its balance sheet by reducing run-off assets and creating a low-risk, UK-focused bank,' Lloyds said in a statement.
The portfolio reportedly includes around 5,000 loans from 3,500 borrowers, with 80% secured by Irish assets; 18% in Northern Ireland and the balance in the UK and Prague.
In the year to 31 December 2014, the non-performing loan portfolio generated pre tax losses of £130 mln, Lloyds said.
