Elliott, Pimco Said to Be Among Bidders for Banco BPM Bad Loans
Elliott, Pimco Said to Be Among Bidders for Banco BPM Bad Loans
(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s Banco BPM SpA has received at least six bids for some or all of a bad-loan package, according to people familiar with the matter.
Investors can bid for blocks of the 10 billion-euro ($11.7 billion) portfolio, starting at 3.5 billion euros, being offered along with the unit that administers the loans, said the people, asking not to be identified because it’s private.
Elliott Capital Advisors, Pacific Investment Management Co. and Cerberus Capital Management all made qualified bids for at least part of the package, the people said. Christofferson, Robb & Co., Fortress Investment Group and Varde Investment Partners also made offers, the people said. After submitting qualified offers the investors are able to complete due diligence on the portfolio, which comprises as many as 30,000 separate loans.
Representatives for all the funds and a spokesman for Banco BPM declined to comment.
The Milan-based lender’s latest push to clean up its balance sheet, code-named "Project Ace,” follows a 5.1 billion euro bad-loan sale carried out through a securitization vehicle last month. Rival Intesa Sanpaolo SpA agreed to sell an 11 billion euro NPL book to Swedish debt collector Intrum AB in April.
Banco BPM, Italy’s third largest lender, sent sales documents known as teasers to potential buyers last month and gave them until July 11 to submit their offers, the people said.
CRC is bidding with Italian firms Prelios SpA and Fire SpA, while Pimco is working with Phoenix Asset Management. Elliott, Fortress and Varde are bidding with affiliate servicers Credito Fondiario SpA, doBank Spa, and Guber Banca SpA respectively, the people said.
Representatives at the servicers declined to comment.
To contact the reporters on this story: Luca Casiraghi in London at lcasiraghi@bloomberg.net;Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net;Antonio Vanuzzo in London at avanuzzo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Chris Vellacott
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