Unicredit has sold a portfolio of non-performing loans of around 702 million euros, gross of value adjustments. There are two buyers: unlimited and Gaia Spv, a securitization vehicle financed by Guber Bank e Barclays Bank plc and managed by Guber.
The subject of the non-recourse transfer were, in particular, Unsecured NPLs in the small and medium-sized business segment "deriving from loan agreements ('large tickets') governed by Italian law", reads the note from Unicredit.
In detail, "unlimited bought a portion of the portfolio with a claim of approx 477 million euro – continues the note – while Gaia bought the remainder with credit of approx 225 million euro".
Unicredit also specifies that “the impact of the sale was already implemented in the financial statements for the second quarter of 2020”. Finally, "the sale is part of Unicredit's current strategy to reduce non-performing exposures", concludes the note.
Tuesday, about two hours after closing, the stock on the Unicredit Stock Exchange travels up by 3,2%, to 9,118 euros. The Bank's shares thus achieved one of the best increases in the Ftse Mib, which gained just over one percentage point in the same minutes.
Triggering the new wave of purchases on Unicredit shares are investors' bets on the start of a new banking risk after relaunch of Intesa Sanpaolo on Ubi Banca. In particular, some rumors circulating in recent days spoke of meetings already underway between the top management of Unicredit and those of Banco Bpm, which could be the ideal partner due to various characteristics: widespread shareholding, geographical distribution and type of business. In any case, the CEO of Unicredit, Jean Pierre Mustier, continues to deny the hypothesis of both domestic and international mergers. At least for now.
The market, however, seems to believe that Intesa's expansion cannot fail to provoke a reaction from the rest of the system.
