A test case for debt workout centred on troubled Dutch property company UniInvest is underway with two proposals under consideration.
Investors in a €603m securitisation are set to hand over control of the portfolio of 220 secondary and tertiary Dutch assets to either Patron Capital in partnership with TPG Capital, or Valad Europe, at a vote on 17 April.
Private equity firms Patron and TPG have teamed up to bid for the senior loan, which secures the defaulted UniInvest CMBS, while Valad Europe has proposed to manage an accelerated disposal of the portfolio.
The two proposals have been put forward by special servicer Eurohypo and its adviser Cairn Capital, in consultation with a committee of class A noteholders.
The class A noteholders now control the company after the CMBS went into default when it reached final legal maturity last month – the first time this has happened to a European securitisation issued during the recent boom.
Eurohypo said 89% of class A noteholders at a recent informal steering committee – reflecting 72% of all class A noteholders – said that if the rest of the noteholders fail to approve a “consensual restructuring” with Valad, they would vote in favour of TPG and Patron’s “credit bid” option.
The consensual deal needs a 75% vote in favour in each class of noteholders; the credit sale requires 75% of class As only to vote in favour.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
