A group of investors led by alternative investment firm Värde Partners and credit manager Guber Banca has acquired an Italian non-performing loan (NPL) portfolio with a gross book value of around €734 mln.
The portfolio was originated by 22 Italian banks and comprises more than 1,300 positions, most of which are secured. The loans were originated mainly in the northeast and northwest of Italy.
The portfolio was purchased by a securitization vehicle issuing multi-tranche notes. The senior notes (70%) will be underwritten by the seller banks while the junior notes will be majority financed by Värde Partners.
Guber Banca will hold a minority share of the notes and will also act as servicer of the portfolio. The transaction comes less than nine months after Värde and Guber Banca acquired a separate €1.4 bn NPL portfolio. Both transactions were carried out with Barclays as the financial institution partner.
Francesco Guarneri, CEO of Guber Banca, commented: ‘We are very pleased to have successfully completed the second tranche of the deal with CCB (Cassa Centrale Banca) which has reached a total of €2.1 bn (adding the first tranche with the second one), a market deal without any government guarantee.’
Francisco Milone, partner and head of European real estate at Värde Partners, added: ‘Italy is an incredibly important market for our firm. Värde’s deep expertise investing in NPLs across the globe combined with our local team in Italy and relationship with Guber support our activity in the Italian NPL market.’
Centrale Credit & Real Estate Solutions (CCRES) - part of Gruppo Cassa Centrale Banca Credito Cooperativo Italiano - and Banca IMI (Intesa Sanpaolo Group) advised the sellers, coordinating both the origination and sale processes. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP acted as legal advisor for the buyers.
