Kennedy Wilson and Varde offload stake in Spanish loan servicer

A joint venture between Kennedy Wilson and Varde Partners has sold its share in the loan servicing company of Spain’s Banco Popular back to the bank.

The new board of Banco Popular, which was recently sold to Spanish banking giant Santander, approved the purchase of the 51 percent stake in the company – Aliseda – for more than €600 million. The sale is expected to close by the third quarter.

The joint venture made its investment in Aliseda in 2013 in an early move into the Spanish market for the US firms.

“Aliseda represents KW’s first deal in Spain and has allowed the joint venture to leverage its management platform and crystallise strong profits and return on capital,” said Mary Ricks, president and CEO of Kennedy Wilson Europe.

“We have successfully delivered strategic asset repositioning to Aliseda, which has also benefited from continued positive economic momentum alongside good institutional demand across Spanish real estate,” Ricks added.

Santander purchased Banco Popular in June for a nominal €1. The bank is in the process of selling a reported 51 percent stake in around €30 billion of non-performing loans and foreclosed properties, which it acquired when it bought Popular.

The real estate-owned assets and non-performing real estate loans held by Banco Popular could be sold at a discount in the region of 30 percent to 40 percent as Santander opts for a quick sale, said Spanish publication Europa Press, citing market sources.