Ariadne – The largest “package” of red loans is up for sale

The process of selling the largest package of red loans in Greece, with a total receivable of 13.90 billion euros, has begun, by the Bank of Greece and PQH, which has been managing these exposures on behalf of the State in recent years.

These are problem loans from the banks that were not characterized as systemic and were liquidated in the last decade, under the burden of the restructuring of the Greek public debt and the consequent losses that annihilated their capital.

Most of the loans in the transaction, code-named “Ariadne”, concern red loans of the former Agricultural Bank at a rate of more than 50%, followed by the former Postal Savings Bank.

The other banks, of smaller size, are the following: Proton Bank, FBB, Panhellenic, as well as the Cooperative banks of Achaia, Lamia, Lesvos – Lemnos, Dodecanese, Evia, Western Macedonia and Peloponnese.

What is for sale

On Tuesday morning, PQH issued a call for expressions of interest for the sale of non-performing exposures with a book value of 5.2 billion euros and a total receivable of 13.9 billion euros from approximately 100,000 loan agreements.

60% of these are business loans and the rest are retail loans, mainly mortgages. This is a very important parameter, as mortgages are accompanied by real estate, which contributes to the increase of the sale price.

As it became known, in the first phase, the interested parties will have to submit non-binding offers with a deadline of 18 January 2022, while the binding offers will be submitted until the summer, with the aim of closing the deal next June.

It is noted that this is not a securitization, but a sale of loans, which means that the Financial Stability Fund (FSF), as the beneficiary of the sale, will receive cash.

It will be possible that any sale will be paid in installments, over a period of three years, by providing a letter of guarantee. However, anyone who pays a lump sum will receive a discount.

Undoubtedly, the big players in the field of red loan management that are active in the domestic market will cast themselves into the fray to claim Ariadne.

This is because whoever acquires the package will significantly increase their share, changing the balances in the field of loan and credit receivables management.