NAB offloads $1b UK loan portfolio to Cerberus
The National Australia Bank (NAB) has agreed to sell a GBP625 million ($1 billion) portfolio of mostly distressed UK property loans to New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.
In a statement NAB - which owns the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks in the UK - said the sale would generate a small gain above net book value and would release about GBP127 million in capital for the group.
The sale price was not disclosed, though some reports place the deal size at GBP485 million - representing a 28% discount on the loans' face value. Cereberus is said to have fended off rivals bids from the likes of Pimco, CarVal and hedge fund Oaktree Capital Management to secure the portfolio.
The sale - which includes loans that are in default, have passed maturity or are nearing maturity - will reduce NAB's gross loans balance of its UK commercial real estate (CRE) portfolio by a 20% to GBP2.38 billion and cut gross impaired loans by nearly half.
"We've progressively reduced our exposure to UK commercial property loans through organic run-off," said Andrew Thorburn, CEO of NAB Group. "The sale represents a substantial de-risking of the non performing portion of the NAB UK CRE portfolio."
He added that the group would continue to try and maximize return on equity by accelerating the sale of non-core assets. The transaction is not subject to any regulatory or other external approvals.
More on Australasia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.