A group of mainly US investors have inked the biggest property loan acquisition since the credit crisis with the purchase of the €7.3 bn UK loan book of Ireland’s collapsed lender Anglo Irish Bank.
A group of mainly US investors have inked the biggest property loan acquisition since the credit crisis with the purchase of the €7.3 bn UK loan book of Ireland’s collapsed lender Anglo Irish Bank.
In a statement, the special liquidators of IBRC, formerly known as Anglo Irish Bank, said that the sale of the Rock and Salt property portfolios is now complete, with 100% of the books being sold to bidders including Lone Star and a consortium of US investment funds Sankaty Advisors and Canyon Capital Advisors.
The liquidators said that the bid levels exceeded independent valuations conducted on the loanbooks.
The packages mainly comprise commercial real estate loans written through the UK branch and UK subsidiary companies of IBRC with a combined par value of €7 bn. According to news reports, Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star is the biggest single purchaser of the loans.
Although financial details were kept confidential, news website Costar reported that the price paid was €4.8 bn, representing a discount to face value of over 30%.
The loans were put up for sale following the liquidation of IBRC in February 2013 and are part of a total portfolio of €22 bn which will be divested over the coming months. Any loans that were not sold at the end of the divestment process would be transferred to Nama.
Negotiations on the sale of a further €12 bn of Anglo loans are continuing and are expected to conclude in the next few weeks.
Remaining IBRC loan portfolios include Project Sand, which comprises 12,700 former Irish Nationwide mortgages with a par value of €1.8 bn. Phase two binding bids conclude on March 14.
Project Stone is mostly Irish commercial real estate assets with a par value of €9.3 bn. Phase Two binding bids, which commenced on February 17 will conclude on March 21.
Project Pebble includes a further portfolio of commercial real estate loans originated through the Irish offices of IBRC with a par loan value of €800 mln. Final bids were received on February 21 and are currently being evaluated, according to KPMG.
Meanwhile, the other major European loan sale - Eurohypo's Spanish loan book, is understood to have attracted a number of bids including a joint venture of JP Morgan and Lone Star, Santander and Apollo as well as Deutsche Bank and Blackstone.
