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January 12, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
bne:Banker IBA assets fall 29% y/y
after rescue
The assets of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), the largest lender in the country, contracted by 28.9% y/y to AZN8.7bn ($5.1bn) in 2017, the state-controlled bank reported.
The lender underwent a restructuring of its debt last year, whereby $3.3bn worth of its foreign obligations were swapped for govern- ment-backed ones. It was the second government rescue for IBA - the first occasion was in 2015. The bank's problems were the result of a faulty lending model, coupled with currency depreciation and
a depressed business environment, in which generating new busi- ness has been difficult.
Once its balance sheet is clean, Baku intends to reprivatise IBA, having increased its share in the lender to over 80% since 2015.
Alpha Bank Romania has entered an agreement to sell a bundle
of corporate non-performing loans (NPLs) with a nominal value of €360mn after it sold a €50mn retail NPL bundle to Norwegian group B2Holding in Q3 last year, Bursa daily reported on January 11.
The new transaction — dubbed the Mars deal — would be the second largest corporate NPL bundle sold on the local market, after the Tokyo bundle which had a nominal value of $1bn and was sold for €150mn by Banca Comerciala Romana.
The buyer of the €360mn bundle is a consortium formed by Deutsche Bank, AnaCap and APS. The same consortium purchased NPL bundles from Romania’s largest bank, Banca Comerciala Romana, during 2014-2016, including the Tokyo bundle.
The price of Alpha’s corporate NPL bundle is put by mirsanu. ro M&A newswire at around €100mn, based on a 70% discount versus face value. The discount in the deal involving the €50mn retail NPL bundle was 65%, mirsanu.ro reported.
Alpha Bank Romania sells €360mn loan bundle