Under the terms of the deal, NAMA retains a 20pc stake in the portfolio of property loans.

Transcription

1 2 May 2013 by Donal O Donovan NAMA has accepted an offer that will see it paid less than 25c in the euro in its first major sale of a portfolio of loans backed by properties in Ireland, including Garda Headquarters on Harcourt Street. Under the terms of the deal, NAMA retains a 20pc stake in the portfolio of property loans. The deal means the loans were bought for less than one quarter of face value. State-owned NAMA is understood to have agreed the terms to sell the portfolio dubbed Project Aspen to a consortium made up of US private-equity giant Starwood Capital, Ireland's Key Capital and London-based Catalyst Capital. The consortium is being advised by developer David Courtney, who was the original borrower or part of the original borrower syndicate on the Aspen loans. He is working for a fee and is not part of the bid so will not end up owning any of the properties following a sale, people involved said. Borrowers are banned from buying their own debts from NAMA. The loans have a face value of 810m but are being sold for 200m. A spokesman for NAMA declined to comment, however, sources close to the deal say it is now moving towards closing with the Starwood-led consortium as preferred bidder after edging out US bond giant Pimco. The loans are linked to development projects put together by Mr Courtney of realestate agency Spain, Courtney, Doyle. He was a significant player in commercial property during the boom and Project Aspen is backed by a mix of offices and retail units. Loans secured on Harcourt Street garda station in Dublin city centre are among the mix. The property is rented to the gardai. There are also a number of Superquinn units in the mix.

2 Managed Mr Courtney was part of a consortium that bought the Superquinn group for 450m back in The company went into receivership in 2011 and was subsequently bought by Musgrave. Project Aspen is the first domestic-loan portfolio to be sold by NAMA. It was put on the market in January, along with the smaller Project Club portfolio of loans with a face value of 350m The sale of Project Aspen has been managed by US investment bank Eastdil Secured, a unit of US bank Wells Fargo. Property advisers CBRE will run the Project Club sale. NAMA expects to sell 3bn to 3.5bn of assets this year, as the agency moves ahead with the sale of two major portfolios of property loans.

3 2 May 2013 by Ciaran Hancock The National Asset Management Agency has agreed to sell a portfolio of loans relating to property developer David Courtney for 200 million to a consortium comprising US investment group Starwood Capital Group, Key Capital in Dublin and UK-based Catalyst Capital. The portfolio of loans is believed to have had a face value of 810 million, indicating that that the new owners have paid just under 25 cent in the euro for the deal. However, it is not clear what price Nama paid to acquire these loans from various Irish banks. This is thought to be the biggest such deal closed out by Nama in Ireland since the loans agency was formed, although it has conducted similar transactions in the UK. It is understood that the consortium acquiring the loans has retained Mr Courtney to advise it during the period around the transition of ownership. However, Mr Courtney will not be participating in the deal beyond that role.

4 The Starwood-led consortium has been granted preferred bidder status with the deal expected to close shortly. Project Aspen Called Project Aspen, the portfolio includes the Garda offices at Harcourt Street, four Superquinn stores, an interest in the Dawson Street building used by stockbroker Davy, and sites in the IFSC and Carrickmines Retail Park. The Superquinn stores involved in the deal are located in Ranelagh, Rathgar and Lucan in Dublin and Waterford. Davy is believed to have signed a new 15-year lease on its Dawson Street offices. It is understood that Starwood is providing the bulk of the finance for the deal while the portfolio will be managed by Key Capital Real Estate and Catalyst. Starwood in based in Connecticut and specialises in real-estate investments. Key Capital is an advisory firm based in Dublin led by Conor Killeen. Catalyst is a property investment company and asset manager. It has more than 5 billion in real estate assets. Project Aspen comprised 30 commercial property loans that were extended to Mr Courtney by a mix of Irish banks during the property bubble, including Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland and AIB. Mr Courtney s loans were extended to Regeneration Developments Ltd. The sale process had been under way for some months with Nama instructing Eastdil Secured to sell Project Aspen. US investment group Pimco is believed to have been the underbidder. It was previously reported that from the Reuben brothers and a tie-up between KKR and Delancey had lodged bids earlier in the process. No comment was available from Nama last night.

5 2 May 2013 by Post Reporter Nama completes sale of 800m Project Aspen portfolio Nama has structured the sale as a joint venture in which it will take a 20% interest. Nama has completed the sale of an 800 million Irish loan portfolio known as Project Aspen. The agency is to create a joint venture with private US-based investment firm Starwood Capital Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Nama will sell the loan portfolio to the new joint venture entity, which will be 20 per cent owned by Nama and 80 per cent owned by a consortium led by Starwood. Other members of the consortium include Key Capital Real Estate and Catalyst Capital. The portfolio includes around 30 office and retail properties, including the Garda station on Harcourt Place, several Superquinn supermarkets and the Merrion Gates development in Sandymount Project Aspen is mainly made up of debts owed by developers David Courtney and Jerry O'Reilly. The portfolio generates an income of about 15 million a year from tenants including the state and grocery chain operator Musgrave. The sale of the loan portfolio commenced in February 2013, with more than 60 parties actively participating in the process. Nama and Starwood entered into exclusive discussions in early April, said a statement from Nama. The structured sale enables Nama to capitalise on the current robust interest from global investors in Irish commercial property assets and at the same time participate

6 in the continuing recovery of the Irish commercial property market, it said in the statement. Nama will provide a senior secured loan to the joint venture, with an initial loan to value of less than 60 per cent. The loan will carry a commercial rate of interest, and is expected to be repaid within five years. Starwood is a global investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, and currently has more than $23 billion in assets under management. NAMA is very happy with the successful outcome of the loan sale process and we welcome Starwood to partner with us in resolving the portfolio, said Brendan McDonagh, the chief executive of Nama. The transaction has a number of innovative features, including Nama vendor financing and equity participation. Jeffrey Dishner, senior managing director at Starwood, said he looked forward to a successful working relationship with Nama. He said that since 2009, Starwood has taken on over $7 billion in non-performing loans as a key part of its distressed investment strategy.

7 Ireland's NAMA in EUR800M Property Loan Sale to Starwood Capital 3 May 2013 by Eamon Quinn DUBLIN--The Irish government's 'bad bank,' the National Asset Management Agency, Thursday said it has sold 800 million euros ($1.05 billion) worth of nominal commercial property loans in Ireland to a venture that includes Starwood Capital Group and two other investors to tap what it calls "robust international interest" in Irish commercial properties. The loans will be managed by a new venture that is 20% owned by NAMA and 80% by the private investors which also include Key Capital Real Estate and Catalyst Capital. NAMA said it will provide so-called vendor finance at commercial rates to the new group, but did not disclose the discount at which it sold the loans. "The structured sale enables NAMA to capitalize on the current robust interest from global investors in Irish commercial property assets, and at the same time participate in the continuing recovery of the Irish commercial property market," NAMA said in a statement. The Irish authorities set up the government-owned agency in 2009 in response to the country's worst-ever commercial property and banking crash. At huge discounts, it paid out about EUR32 billion in special NAMA bonds to five stricken lenders for loans advanced on office complexes, hotels and shopping malls that were worth a nominal EUR74.2 billion, equivalent to about half of the country's economic output. The agency has already sold about EUR7 billion of better-performing loans and properties, and aims to dispose of all harder to sell assets in Ireland and abroad over the next seven years. After accounting for disposals and impairments, NAMA held EUR22.8 billion worth of loans at the end of The agency, which is one of the largest government-owned landlords in Europe, has in the past said it plans to provide EUR2 billion worth in vendor finance to prepare certain commercial properties for sale.