Irish Banks PLC Has Struck a Deal to Sell U.S. Commercial Real Estate Portfolio

NNN Lease Market News

Allied Irish Banks PLC has struck a deal to sell a portfolio of roughly $1 billion in U.S.

"We certainly have a portion of our loan book that we need to delever," said Paul McDonnell, head of real estate for corporate banking at the Bank of Ireland. "It's a pretty good quality book; the market is reasonably strong for this type of asset."
Anglo Irish Bank Corp., which is being wound down by Ireland, also is being pressed by regulators to sell its $10 billion U.S. commercial real-estate portfolio. While decisions have yet to be made about how much of the portfolio to sell, Anglo's U.S. holdings have been closely watched given its size. Numerous U.S. investors have made trips to Ireland to discuss possible purchases, according to people familiar with the matter.
The price paid by Blackstone and Wells Fargo for the Allied Irish loans is higher than other recent deals, partly because commercial real-estate values have been rising in many of the top U.S. markets. Also, competition for distressed real-estate assets is intense among the funds that raised money when the downturn hit.

http://online.wsj.com/article