Nmas1 Dinamia : Alantra advises Hellenic Bank in the creation of the first servicer in Cyprus, with €2.4bn of AuM

Athens, 19 January 2017 - Alantra advised one of the Greek systemic banks in the country, the Hellenic Bank, in the creation of the first servicer in the country with a scope of assets under management of €2.4bn. The platform will be a joint venture between the Bank, which will hold a 49% stake, and APS, with the remaining 51%. APS Holding a.s is a specialized debt servicing company covering 11 European countries in Central and South Eastern Europe and has been selected following a competitive bidding process.

In a recent press release, the Hellenic Bank noted that the agreement 'is of huge strategic importance for Hellenic Bank and falls under the Group's strategy of reorganizing and transforming its business model. The main pillars of the strategy are the reduction of non performing exposures, the expansion of new lending thus increasing the Bank's market share and the increase of its revenues through other banking activities.'

By creating the biggest real estate asset management and debt servicing platform in the Cypriot market, the Bank will be able to effectively deal with its non-performing exposures in an accelerated way, by developing, expanding and improving the recoveries of NPEs through leveraging on the knowhow and expertise of APS. Furthermore, it will allow the Bank to better allocate its resources on managing and growing the performing loan book by using its excess liquidity to the benefit of the market, as well as on continuing its digital transformation journey, the optimization of corporate governance and the adaptation to the expanding compliance framework.

This deal marks a new step towards Alantra's establishment as the leading and pioneering advisor in the field of Financial Institutions and Non-Performing Loans in Southern Europe. Based on its unique experience originally gained in Spain, where it has been a key advisor in the clean-up process of the financial sector, being involved in highly innovative transactions in banking - e.g. sale of Catalunya Banc to BBVA for €1.2bn -, real estate - e.g. sale of Neinor for €930mn- and loan portfolios exposure - over €19bn in the last 2 years). Alantra is currently designing and executing similar transactions across Southern Europe and the Balkans.