Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena announced yesterday that it has reached a binding agreement for the transfer without recourse en bloc of a portfolio of non-performing loans to a securitization vehicle financed by companies attributable to Fortress Investment Group LLC.
The portfolio being sold consists of almost 4 bad loans with a gross book value of around 380 million euro. The portfolio includes medium and long-term secured and unsecured loans. The impact of the sale on MPS' income statement and balance sheet is not significant, while the administrative and management benefits deriving from the transaction will be significant in light of the number of positions included in the portfolio being sold.
Also considering the previous transaction of the same type concluded last June, during 2014 Mps sold a total of around 16 thousand non-performing positions with a gross book value of almost 1 billion. These operations form part of a broad strategy aimed at a more active management of non-performing loans, in line with what was recently announced on the occasion of the approval of the Capital Plan by MPS. The completion of the transaction is expected by 31 December.
The opening of the Stock Exchange, after yesterday's tumble, is positive for the MPS share: +1,6% at 0,4714 euro.
