Sector developments and company hires

Project Frontier securitisation inked
National Bank of Greece (NBG) has entered into a definitive agreement with a consortium consisting of affiliates of Bain Capital Credit, Fortress Investment Group and doValue Greece, for the sale of 95% of the mezzanine and junior notes issued via a securitisation backed by a portfolio of non-performing exposures (NPEs) with a total gross book value of circa €6bn. NBG will retain 100% of the senior notes, utilising the provisions of the Hellenic Asset Protection Scheme (HAPS), and 5% of the mezzanine and junior notes. The transaction – dubbed Project Frontier – is being implemented in the context of the bank’s NPE deleveraging strategy and is in line with the targets submitted to the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).

The total proceeds for NBG mainly reflect the senior notes and the consideration for the mezzanine and junior notes, corresponding to around 50% of the total gross book value of the Frontier Portfolio. The transaction will boost NBG’s total capital by circa 150bp, with the pro-forma 1H21 Total Capital ratio increasing to 18.5%, while the NPE ratio on the same date stands at 12.7%.

The transaction is expected to be completed within 4Q21, subject to required approvals. Following the completion of the transaction, doValue Greece - a legal entity authorised by the Bank of Greece under Law 4354/2015, with several years of experience in servicing NPE portfolios - will undertake the servicing of the Frontier Portfolio.

The mandate will increase doValue’s assets under management (gross book value) in Greece to €32bn from €26bn, as of 30 June 2021. The price for the acquisition of the servicing contract by doValue is approximately €35m, subject to certain terms and conditions, which will be financed by doValue through its owns financial resources. Given the participation of funds managed by Fortress in the consortium, and the fact that Fortress affiliates own 26.73% of doValue’ share capital, certain aspects of Project Frontier have been classified as a related party transaction of major relevance, without cases of exclusion.

Morgan Stanley is acting as financial advisor and arranger on the transaction, while Oliver Wyman acted as technical advisor.

In other news…

North America
BTIG has expanded its structured finance operations with the launch of a new structured products business. The firm has appointed Alejandro Feely as md and head of structured products to lead the new unit.

Feely has over 20 years of experience in the industry and joins from Brownstone Investment Group, where he managed the mortgage credit trading desk. Previously, he worked at Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Lehman Brothers.

In addition, BTIG has recruited Conor O’Callaghan, Michael Murray and Emily Brown as members of the structured product sales and trading team. O’Callaghan will act as md and head of structured products sales, having previously been head of investment banking and an md within structured products at Brownstone Investment Group. Before that he worked at Nomura, Barclays and Credit Suisse.

Murray will serve has md and joins from Waypoint Direct Investments, where he was an md within its capital markets group. Before that, he held senior positions at Imperial Capital, Nomura and Cantor Fitzgerald.

Brown joins BTIG as a director, having previously served as a director within fixed income sales at Brownstone Investment Group. Before that, she worked at Jefferies, Nomura and PPM America.

Monroe Capital has named Zia Uddin as its president. Uddin - who is a partner and portfolio manager, institutional portfolios - will continue to report to Ted Koenig, who will remain the firm’s chairman and ceo.

As president of Monroe, Uddin will oversee and implement Monroe’s long-term growth strategies. He will remain an active participant in the firm’s investment committee, as well as co-portfolio manager, institutional portfolios, alongside newly appointed co-portfolio manager Chris Lund.