IBRC and Nama European leaders in site sales

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation and the National Asset Management Agency were the two biggest sellers of commercial real estate in Europe last year, according to an analysis by London-based commercial property services group Cushman & Wakefield.

It found the liquidators of IBRC and Nama accounted for 36 per cent of the total volume of commercial real estate sales that closed in 2014. IBRC closed nine transactions with a combined face value of €18.7 billion while Nama completed 16 deals worth €10.1 billion.

Beyond Ireland

Many involved the sale of assets outside Ireland. Nama’s biggest deal was the disposal of Project Eagle, a Northern Ireland loan book with a face value of €5.6 billion.

The key investors in Ireland last year were CarVal/Goldman Sachs, who between them paid €6.2 billion to purchase loans from IBRC and UK bank Lloyds. It was followed by Cerberus and Lone Star, who each closed deals with par values of €4 billion, and then Blackstone and Colony Capital, who transacted on €1 billion or less.

Some €22.5 billion worth of face value sales were closed in Ireland last year, placing the country second only to the UK in terms of activity. Sales here in both 2012 and 2013 amounted to less than €5 billion.

Rock solid

In total, some €80.6 billion was transacted in Europe in 2014. C&W said Spain had a “Herculean” year while the UK and Ireland remained “solid as a rock”.

In terms of 2015, C&W said 10 transactions are being marketed in Ireland. This includes IBRC’s €650 million Project Pearl, which C&W said would be the “final sale from the entity . . . With IBRC close to completing its loan portfolio sales, Nama will be a leader in the Irish and UK loan sales market, having committed to an accelerated wind-down programme.”

Across Europe, some €21.7 billion of par-value live sales are in play. "Key vendors include those acting upon the European financial stress tests, including Permanent TSB, " C&W said.