NPL market woos major international names
Prestigious names from the international loan management industry feature on the list of candidates for entering the Greek market based on a new institutional framework.
The list of those preparing their entry keeps growing, with sources saying that six companies are eyeing their involvement in the management not only of “bad” but also of performing loans.
Those firms include Centerbridge, Kaican and Alvarez & Marsal. Besides offering financial services and consultancy, Alvarez & Marsal is internationally active in the streamlining of big corporations, while Kaican and Centerbridge are major private equity companies.
Interest has also been expressed by the KKR investment fund through Pillarstone and by Spain’s Aktua, both of which have signed agreements with Alpha and Eurobank for the management of big corporate loans as well as mortgage, consumer and small-company loans, submitting applications to the Bank of Greece. Eurobank is also creating its own loan management company.
The strong interest seen by major investment funds is attributed to two main factors. The first concerns the opening up of the market after the consolidation of the new institutional framework. The second stems from the determination of the supervising authorities to efficiently handle the problem of nonperforming loans: The target to reduce the nonperforming exposures (that also include loans under restructuring) by 40 percent to end-2019 from the current level of almost 110 billion euros calls for a drastic change to the management model.
