Piraeus Bank, Greece’s largest lender by assets, has signed a binding agreement to sell a stake in the €1.9 bn Project Phoenix residential mortgages NPE securitisation to Swedish debt specialist Intrum.
Under the deal, Intrum will purchase 30% of the mezzanine and junior notes for a price said to represent a major discount to face value, with the entire transaction understood to be valued at around €100 mln.
Piraeus, which is 26%-owned by the country’s HFSF bank rescue fund, is mulling the distribution of 65% of the mezzanine and junior notes to its shareholders, while retaining 5% itself.
Piraeus is also retaining 100% of the senior notes of the Project Phoenix securitisation, which will take advantage of Greece’s Hercules bad debt reduction scheme which provides state guarantees for senior tranches.
Alantra and UBS are acting as joint financial advisors to Piraeus on the transaction.
Intrum is a major partner of Piraeus Bank. Last year, it teamed up with the Greek lender to set up a platform to service a €27 bn bad loan portfolio. It agreed to pay €328 mln to acquire 80% of it, with Piraeus bank holding 20%.
Project Vega
Piraeus Bank is also said to be looking for a buyer for Project Vega, a €5 bn non-performing loan portfolio - the largest debt portfolio currently up for sale. Alantra and JP Morgan are advising on the sale which is expected to close in early 2021.
