Zepos & Yannopoulos acted as Greek legal counsel to Attica Bank SA, a Greek medium-sized bank, on the securitisation of non-performing loans and future receivables from the sale of real estate of approximately €1.3 billion.
This milestone transaction involved the sale of receivables arising from a diversified portfolio of non-performing credit products and of future receivables arising from the sale and/or leasing of real estate that are the underlying assets of financial leasing receivables, also included in the portfolio.
The portfolio was sold to a Luxembourg SPV against issuance of €525,000,000 senior notes and €806,200,000 junior notes. All the notes were initially subscribed by Attica Bank, which will also act as interim servicer of the portfolio.
In parallel, Attica Bank entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Aldridge EDC Specialty Finance, the principal owner of a multinational investor in, and manager of, distressed assets, to sell the junior notes, as well as 80% of Thea Artemis SA, a subsidiary of Attica Bank that holds a license by the Bank of Greece to manage banking credit. Completion of the sale and purchase agreement is subject to approval by the Bank of Greece, following which Thea Artemis SA is expected to undertake the management of the securitised portfolio.
The transaction is the first to combine the long-tested Greek securitisation law framework with the recently introduced law on the licensing of banking credit managers; it steps up the creation of an efficient secondary market for non-performing loans in Greece and offers a seamless legal structure for future transactions.
The Zepos & Yannopoulos team was led by Christina Papanikolopoulou, assisted by Mary Nigritinou and Athina Palli. Tax advice was provided by Daphne Cozonis and Katerina Vagia.