Reuters are now saying that unnamed sources familiar with the sale of EBS are saying that no decision has been made, apparently contradicting the CNBC report below. It was previously expected that a sale would take place before December 2010.
There is breaking news that one of the five NAMA institutions, the Educational Building Society (EBS) has been acquired by a consortium including the Dublin based Cardinal Asset Management, venture capitalist the Carlyle Group and Wilbur Ross. It would appear that the other bidder, Ireland’s Irish Life and Permanent – a financial institution covered by the State guarantee but not taking part in NAMA, has been unsuccessful in its bid. Wilbur Ross earlier this year took a stake in New Jersey lender Sun Bancorp and invested millions in British entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Money.
EBS is very much a minor participant in NAMA with approximately €1bn of NAMA qualifying loans. Its NAMA loans are 2nd best performing with an average cumulative haircut over tranches 1 and 2 of 38% (just behind BoI on 36%). It does however have a large deposit book (of almost €9bn and non-NAMA loans of €16.6bn, of which €13.6bn are mortgages mostly in Ireland).
The Cardinal Consortium is reported by RTE to have “They have pledged to put €550m into EBS in return for a 70% stake. This would leave the Government with the remaining 30%.” and also to “have raised the possibility” of reducing the amount people owe on their mortgages with Wilbur Ross comparing Ireland with *some* US states which have non-recourse loans.
Updates and the analysis of any impact on NAMA’s operation will appear here.
NAMA Wine Lake 