JPMorgan Chase and private-equity firm Lone Star Funds teamed up to bid on Propertize BV, a Dutch bad bank with about $6.1 billion of loans and real estate, according to an article by Sharon Smyth and Aaron Kirchfeld for Bloomberg. They are currently the leading bidder.
While a deal may be reached as soon as next month, it could also still fall apart, according to a person who asked not to be identified, according to the article.
Other competitors allegedly include Goldman Sachs Group and Cerberus Capital Management, who are also interested in the Dutch bank.
From the article:
An update on the sales process is expected this summer, a spokeswoman for Propertize said.
Europe’s banks and asset managers have been selling real estate loans as they seek to repair their balance sheets after the financial crisis. Propertize was given as long as a decade to dispose of the assets when it was set up to manage loans advanced by SNS Reaal NV after the bank was nationalized in 2013.
The Dutch government decided to privatize Propertize and offered shares in the company and sought expressions of interest from buyers last year, according to an official notice.
