The Spanish investment market has faced two major announcements in recent days. Firstly, major bank Banco Santander announced plans to invest €1 billion into NPLs (NonPerforming Loans). The bank is looking to enter the global market as a buyer of the doubtful credit or NPL market, according to Expansion. In order to prepare for the investments the bank is looking to strengthen its existing team who will specialise in the new line of investments.
The bank has chosen Deva Capital to develop it’s team, allowing the bank to debut in a market that has the potential to offer them great returns. Meanwhile British investment manager Chenavari is looking for a buyer for its entire real estate portfolio in Spain after it was put on the market for €700 million.
The real estate investment manager is based in London and has reportedly decided to look for a buyer for its entire portfolio of assets in Spain. The firm was created by former partners of BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Bear Stearns and had already started to make plans to exit the Spanish market before the Coronavirus pandemic struck. Chenavari have engaged financial services provider Alantra to manage the exit process. Chenavari first entered the Spanish market back in 2014 when they purchased both assets and loans from a range of Spanish banks.
They participated in the purchase of two of the first portfolios that were sold by Bankia following its state rescue. The two portfolios Chenavari acquired were Project Wind that amounted to €1.3 billion which was acquired together with Oaktree and a second portfolio that contained property developer loans worth €335 million. Whilst Chenavari had made the decision to leave the Spanish market as early as March this year, their departure is yet another blow to the Spanish real estate investment market that continues to feel the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Falls in prices are expected in the short to medium term as the Spanish economy tries to find the best route to recovery. Banking giants such as Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are being looked to to offer crucial guidance and advice for investors worldwide. Along with the Chenavari sale, a small amount of transactions are expected to take place until the return of the summer, when a wave of financial institutions are predicted to clean up the balance sheets of their portfolios before the end of the year.
