GE buys €2.6bn Italian loans portfolio

  GE has bought a €2.6bn portfolio of non-performing loans, in partnership with Pirelli Real Estate and Calyon.    The portfolio comprises over 20,000 non-performing loans originated by Italian banks Banca Antonveneta and Interbanca, covering mixed commercial, corporate and real estate assets across Italy.   The deal, the second largest of its type in the country, sees GE take a 50% stake via its subsidiaries GE Real Estate Italia and GE Corporate Financial Services, with the remainder held by the joint venture Pirelli RE/Calyon.   GE and Pirelli RE signed an exclusive mandate with ABN Amro on the first tranche of the portfolio, which had book value of €1bn, at the end of last year.   Pirelli RE will service the portfolio and act as asset manager.   It is GE’s third acquisition of a non-performing loan portfolio in Italy over the past 18 months, giving it a total exposure of over €5bn of gross book value in loans.   It also follows GE Real Estate’s November purchase of a £2bn portfolio of commercial loans from UK mortgage specialist Bradford & Bingley.   The group said last month it was eyeing a series of loan portfolios and planned to create a property lending division to hold them.   GE Real Estate, the commercial property arm of GE Capital, first came to the UK market as a property lender in 1987, but has gradually refocused to be a predominantly cash buyer of UK assets.   Oliver Piani, president of GE Real Estate Europe, said: “This transaction is evidence of our commitment to grow our NPL business and our proven ability to execute large deals even in more unsettled markets. paul.norman@egi.co.uk