Bain Capital has completed the acquisition of the Project Icon package encompassing 7,300 loans to 1,500 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises with a principal of €1.6 bn.
PropertyEU reported last year that Bain outbid rival Fortress Investment Group in the sale from vendor, Greek lender National Bank of Greece (NBG).
NBG, advised by Morgan Stanley, launched the sale in September 2019. The package is said to be of a lower quality than previous NPL packages for sale and was expected to sell for less than 25% of nominal value.
The portfolio includes €1 bn borrowed by 137 SMEs and the balance by micro enterprises. The loans are secured against 6,000 property assets valued at €1.1 bn, mostly consisting of commercial real estate (€800 mln) mostly located in Athens (27%) and Macedonia (23%).
About 55% of borrowers have ceased operations. NBG’s total exposure amounts to €2.5 bn.
Last year NBG also closed the sale of Project Symbol to a consortium of Centerbridge Partners and Elliott Advisors. The sale involved around 13,000 SME loans with a face value of €1.6 bn secured against 7,900 assets – largely commercial properties with a value of around €700 mln, as well as €400 mln of residential assets and plots of land.
This very granular portfolio is believed to have traded for €250 mln, or about 26% of the nominal value.
Last year NBG also launched the sale of its largest NPL portfolio known as Project Frontier. The €6 bn securitisation is being marketed through Morgan Stanley and includes roughly €1 bn of residential property-backed loans along with small and medium-sized business loans and some consumer loans.
