Anglo US loan book totalling $9.5bn attracts several bids

A HOST of major US private equity firms and banks have lodged bids for Anglo Irish Bank’s $9.5 billion (€6.7 billion) loan book, while Bank of Ireland has reportedly agreed a deal to sell a $1.4 billion US commercial property portfolio to the US bank Wells Fargo.

Groups of investors led by private equity firms Centerbridge Capital Partners, Blackstone and Lone Star were among the initial bidders for the Anglo loans. TPG Capital, Cerberus Capital Management and Colony Capital also submitted bids.

Cerberus is working with Oaktree Capital Group and LNR Property, while TPG has joined forces with Lubert-Adler Partners and Pacific Investment Management, Bloomberg reported after the deadline for bids closed on Tuesday evening in New York.

Blackstone is teaming up with Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg says, while Centerbridge is partnering with AIG, Paulson Co and Blackrock to bid for the portfolio, which comprises about 250 loans as well as a loan of $345 million on the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston, directly owned by Anglo.

The portfolio, the largest US loan book put on the market by a foreign bank, is being sold in eight tranches. About 42 per cent of the loans by value or about $4 billion worth is performing, while 54 per cent is sub- or non-performing.

Final bids are expected later this month before a preferred buyer is chosen in September. The sale must be approved by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan as shareholder of the nationalised Anglo.

The Irish banks are offloading many overseas loan portfolios and businesses as they deleverage balance sheets to bring their loans closer in line with deposits and wean themselves off funding from the Irish and European central banks.

Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher declined yesterday to comment on reports of an agreed sale of $1.4 billion of US commercial property loans to Well Fargo. “We are making good progress on the sale of our loan books,” he said at the bank’s half-year results, but gave no further comment.

The Bank of Ireland portfolio comprises 25 loans backed by commercial properties in New York, Boston and Washington, according to the Wall Street Journal. Bank of Ireland is being advised by property broker HFF.

There had been concerns that turmoil stemming from the European debt crisis and the loss of the top AAA credit rating by the US could have affected the sales of Irish bank loans in the US but it does not have seem to have deterred interest from bidders.

Anglo is being advised by Eastdil Secured and FTI Consulting on the sale of the US loans supported by trophy assets. They include the Apthorp apartment complex and Ralph Lauren store on Madison Avenue in New York, the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago and shops on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.