A group of investors led by Varde Partners and Guber Banca, working with Barclays as their financial institution partner, announced the joint acquisition of a non-performing loan portfolio originated by 22 mutual, rural, and cooperative banks spread throughout Italy. The gross book value (GBV) of the portfolio is approximately €734m. The portfolio comprises more than 1,300 assets, most of which are secured. The loans were originated mainly in the Northeast and in the Northwest of Italy.
The assets were purchased by a securitization vehicle issuing multi-tranche notes. The senior notes (70%) will be underwritten by the seller banks and the junior notes will be majority financed by Varde Partners. Guber Banca will hold a minority share of the notes and will also act as servicer of the portfolio. This transaction follows the previously announced acquisition of a €1.397bn GBV NPL portfolio in July 2018.
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 €2.1bn (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 Varde Partners added: “Italy is an incredibly important market for our firm. Varde’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”.
