Anglo Irish Bank to sell $9.65bn US portfolio

The distressed Dublin-based bank is entertaining bids for a portfolio of 248 loans backed by properties across the US from such private equity real estate firms as Blackstone, KKR and Westbrook.

The Anglo Irish Bank currently is seeking bidders for a roughly $9.65 billion portfolio of US property loans and already has garnered interest from several potential buyers, including such private equity real estate firms as Lone Star Funds, The Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts and Westbrook Partners, among others. 

The portfolio has been divided into eight pools, the largest being a $2.26 billion pool of distressed office and industrial loans. According to sources familiar with the situation, potential buyers may bid on specific pools or on the entire portfolio of 248 loans, which are backed by properties ranging from apartment complexes in New York to shopping centres in Los Angeles. Anglo Irish Bank, however, is not accepting bids on individual loans.

One source added that the Dublin-based bank, which is winding down its assets in the wake of being nationalised in early 2009, would prefer a bidder to buy either the entire portfolio or several pools. Calls to Anglo Irish Bank’s US offices were not returned.

According to a report by Bloomberg, prospective bidding teams are rumoured to include Centerbridge Capital Partners, which is teaming with American International Group, Paulson & Co and BlackRock to make a bid; Blackstone and Deutsche Bank; TPG Capital and LoanCore Capital; and KKR and Westbrook. Those alliances, however, could change as the bidding process progresses.

Eastdil Secured and FTI Consulting are advising Anglo Irish Bank on the sale. First-round bids are due on 9 August. Eastdil did not provide a comment by press time.