National Bank of Greece (NBG) on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with funds managed by Bracebridge Capital LLC, for the sale of 95% of the Mezzanine and Junior notes from a securitisation backed by a portfolio of non-performing exposures with a total gross book value of 1.0 billion euros.
Under the terms of the agreement, NBG will retain 100% of the Senior notes, utilizing the provisions of the Hellenic Asset Protection Scheme (“Hercules II”, “HAPS”), and 5% of the Mezzanine and Junior notes. The transaction is being implemented in the context of the Bank’s NPE deleveraging strategy and is in line with the targets submitted to the Single Supervisory Mechanism.
The total proceeds for NBG mainly reflect the Senior notes and the consideration for the Mezzanine and Junior notes, corresponding to around 45% of the total gross book value of the Frontier II Portfolio. The transaction, which received two preliminary credit ratings for the senior notes, will increase NBG’s total capital by around 25bps.
The transaction is expected to be completed within the second half of 2022, subject to required approvals.
Morgan Stanley & Co International plc is acting as financial advisor and arranger of the transaction, while Clifford Chance LLP and Karatzas & Partners as international and local external legal counsel to NBG, respectively.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA