A consortium of US asset manager Fortress and Italian listed property services group Prelios are in pole position to acquire UniCredit's non-performing loan platform, according to well-informed market sources.
A consortium of US asset manager Fortress and Italian listed property services group Prelios are in pole position to acquire UniCredit's non-performing loan platform, according to well-informed market sources.
The sale involves both Unicredit Credit Management Bank's business operations, as well as a bad loan portfolio worth around €3.4 bn. Sources say the unit is valued at around €700-800 mln.
Prelios and New York-based Fortress Group, which are in talks regarding a potential merger of their asset management and NPL units, are understood to be competing with US private equity group Lone Star.
They announced in April that they were launching a bid for Unicredit Credit Management Bank, which services some €50 bn of loans.
The two partners had also made a bid for Banco Popolare's bad bank, Release, which was later withdrawn from the market after its owners failed to receive an appropriate offer. Blackstone, Cerberus and Pimco all presented bids.
Prelios Credit Servicing, headed by Riccardo Serrini, manages over €8 bn of loans.
Fortress is the majority shareholder of Italian asset manager Torre Sgr as well as Italfondiario, the country’s largest NPL-management company with €36.1 bn of assets under management.
Unicredit is expected to select the preferred bidder over the coming week.
