Listed debt specialist going Dutch
MANCHESTER-based purchaser and manager of debt Arrow Global is expanding its European footprint with addition of specialist servicing contracting in the Netherlands.
The list company has agreed terms to take ownership of an additional specialist servicing capability.
As part of the investment, it will also co-invest in a secured loan portfolio with a face value of circa €1.7bn (about 9,300 loans), with the group taking responsibility for servicing of the entire loan book.
The transaction sees Arrow Global partner with an existing strategic fund partner, CarVal Investors, to acquire the platform and loan book which comes from the real estate financing activities of RNHB Hypotheekbank – a division of FGH Bank NV, a fully owned subsidiary of Rabobank.
Given the quality of the secured loan assets (the average loan-to-value being 66%), the investors will secure nonrecourse leveraged finance to part fund the deal. Arrow Global will acquire a minority interest for €25m.
The transaction also includes the transfer of a circa 60-strong servicing team and its servicing platform to Arrow Global’s wholly owned Netherlands subsidiary, Vesting Finance Servicing BV. Vesting will act as master servicer and will be responsible for administration of the entire loan portfolio.
Arrow Global group chief executive Tom Drury said: “We are delighted to announce this important transaction, which brings additional servicing capability and long-term servicing contracts to the group and sees us partner with one of our existing strategic fund partners, CarVal Investors.
“In acquiring the incumbent servicing solution we add new expertise and data assets to our existing platform.
“We look forward to providing a great service to the customers and employees of RNHB and to supporting their growth in the future as they continue to deliver a leading service in the Netherlands market.
“Across the group, via our Portuguese business, Whitestar, we already have significant secured loan capabilities and this deal allows us to replicate this expertise in an additional geography.
“This portfolio investment is incremental to the £29 million of the H2 pipeline that we announced were awarded on August 31 2016. We remain on track to deliver overall full-year results in line with our expectations.”
