Banks to sell assets taken from indebted property developers
Offices, stores, industrial plants and even plots of land worth millions of euros form part of the property portfolios banks have obtained through streamlining agreements with overindebted corporations in the real estate sector as well as many others. The banks now intend to put them on the market in the next few months.
For instance, the market is eagerly awaiting the announcement of the sale of a property package Pasal Development has transferred to its creditor banks in the context of the streamlining agreement the bankruptcy legislation provides for.
This may be the ultimate effort to save the company of the Theodoridis family that evolved rapidly during the previous decade and even became a strategic partner of Piraeus Bank in the share capital of Trastor Real Estate Investment Company. The total portfolio of the Pasal properties is estimated at about 100 million euros.
According to the streamlining plan, Alpha Bank stands to receive properties worth 23.3 million euros. The most important of those assets concerns the logistics center of SATO, the Theodoridis Group’s flagship company. This has a surface area of 55,000 square meters and will be voluntarily conceded to Alpha in exchange for the write-off of a 14.5-million-euro debt.
Pasal will also seal a significant debt write-off deal with National. The bank will receive two plots of land adjacent to the Athens Heart mall which are worth 960,000 euros. In exchange, National will not require collateral from Pasal for it to take out a 55-million-euro loan for its subsidiary Doreco, which owns Athens Heart – this is considered Pasal’s most important asset. If the transaction is sealed, the shopping mall may become a venue for other activities, such as entertainment.
There is also interest in the court case of Ektasis Development, another important property development company. Its management has not yet reached an agreement with its creditor banks, so the lenders have demanded the appointment of an administrator for Ektasis. The court hearing on this case took place in December and a decision is expected. If it is in the banks’ favor, the road will open for the gradual sale of the valuable portfolio of Ektasis’s properties, which have been priced at more than 110 million euros.
