CGD sells 99% of credits from Vale de Lobo to the ECS fund for 222.9 million euros
Over the past few weeks, in December, the bank headed by Paulo Macedo has sold the credits it had on the resort Vale do Lobo, in the Algarve, to the restructuring fund ECS.
Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) has sold 99% of the credits it had on the resort Vale do Lobo, in the Algarve, to the restructuring fund ECS headed by António de Sousa and Fernando Esmeraldo. The operation took place in December and ascended to 222.9 million euros. It’s conclusion is dependent of the green light from authorities.
“CGD confirms that it sold, on December 22, its credits on the Vale de Lobo Group for 222.9 million euros. The acquirer was an investment fund from ECS Capital geared to intervene in projects from the real estate and tourism sector”, the Portuguese state bank told ECO. The bank headed by Paulo Macedo added that “CGD hopes that the asset can be recovered and monetized”.
CGD will transfer the credits on Vale do Lobo to one of ECS funds that already holds other real estate properties, such as the business park Torres de Lisboa. For this operation, ECS issues mutual fund units that will be subscribed by CGD itself and that are, in practice, ECS’ self financing to purchase that asset.
CGD confirms that it sold, on December 22, its credits on the Vale de Lobo Group for 222.9 million euros. The acquirer was an investment fund from ECS Capital geared to intervene in projects from the real estate and tourism sector.
According to a source close to the process, “ECS is preparing to keep the asset for five or six years, or longer, if needed”. The same source also told ECO that it is not expected that there will be a restructuring leading to dismissals. Quite the opposite: “Just like what happened to other assets acquired by ECS, such as the resort Salgados (Algarve), more employees were hired”, that source adds.
Although it is a long-term investor looking to restructure assets and capitalize them after a few years, this ECS fund headed by António de Sousa and Fernando Esmeraldo has sold eight assets it acquired, namely two in Madeira, two in Lisbon and one in Oporto. These sales were accelerated due to the economic context improvement, stated a source close to the operations.
