Nama expects a maximum €23.8bn in par debt loan transfers from IBRC

The National Asset Management Agency is preparing to have a maximum of €23.8 billion in loans transferred to it by the special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

This is from a book with a gross value of €27 billion and suggests that the liquidators will offload loans with a par value of about €4 billion by the end of this year, the deadline set by the Government for such sales to happen.

These figures represent the original value of the loans and do not take account of discounts that might now apply due to the effects of the global financial crisis and the collapse of the Irish property market over the past five years.

Three companies
This emerged yesterday from the appointment of three companies to manage these loans for Nama when they are transferred by IBRC's liquidators.

Nama has chosen Certus to manage the portfolio of loans relating to commercial property, residential investment and development, and business banking.

It said this group of loans could have an aggregate nominal par debt value of €22 billion. Nama said this work would include the provision of credit, legal, treasury, finance and accounting services.

In addition, Nama has chosen Pepper Asset Servicing and Serco to manage its portfolio of personal and residential mortgage loans on IBRC's books. This relates largely to Irish Nationwide, which was merged with Anglo Irish Bank to form IBRC. This portfolio is expected to comprise loans with an aggregate nominal par value of €1.8 billion.

The appointments have been made for an initial five years with Nama holding the option to extend them by two years. These are major wins for the providers involved with the appointments made following competitive tendering processes.

Certus said it would employ an additional 300 staff over the next nine to 12 months to handle the Nama work. This will bring its staffing level to 1,400. Joe Higgins, Certus's chief executive, told The Irish Times that he expects to hire about 200 staff from IBRC to manage this portfolio.

Certus was formed in by former staff of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to manage that institution’s portfolio of loans following its withdrawal from Ireland. It has since expanded its activities and holds contracts with a number of other institutions, including AIB and Permanent TSB.

Pepper employs about 150 staff in Dublin and Shannon and has assets under management here of about €2 billion. It established in Ireland last year after its parent company, the Pepper Group, acquired GE Capital Woodchester Home Loans Ltd and recently won contracts with Carval Investors and Danske Bank to manage certain Irish loan portfolios.