We advised Intrum Justicia and Intrum Hellas in Project Phoenix, a securitisation of a non-performing residential mortgage loan portfolio of gross book value of c. € 1.92 billion owned by Piraeus Bank. The transaction is one of the first of its type, as Piraeus Bank has filed an application for the inclusion of the senior notes of Phoenix under the Hercules Asset Protection Scheme (Hercules scheme). On 28 December 2020, Piraeus Bank announced that it entered into an agreement with Intrum Justitia, for the sale of 30% of the mezzanine and junior notes issued by Phoenix. Piraeus Bank shall retain 100% of the senior notes, as well as 5% of the mezzanine and junior notes and, subject to the necessary approvals, will distribute the remaining 65% of the mezzanine and junior notes to its shareholders. The implied valuation of the portfolio based on the nominal value of the senior notes and the sale price of the mezzanine notes corresponds to c. 50% of the total gross book value of the portfolio. The portfolio will continue to be serviced by Intrum Hellas, which was also the interim servicer of the portfolio. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur within 2021.
The Zepos & Yannopoulos team, led by Christina Papanikolopoulou, partner, head of Finance & Capital Markets practice group, included partner Elena Papachristou, senior associate Paris Tzoumas and associates Athina Palli, Myrto Tsoumalakou and Vivian Efthymiou. Partners Maria Zoupa and Alex Karopoulos advised on tax matters.
