Milbank Advises Piraeus Bank on Market-First NPL Transaction

Milbank LLP advised Piraeus Bank S.A. (“Piraeus Bank”) on a market-first transaction in relation to the carve-out and sale of a majority stake in its non-performing exposures servicing unit to Intrum Holdings Spain SAU (“Intrum”). The transaction included the negotiation of associated long-term servicing agreements in respect of Piraeus’ €27.3 billion portfolio of non-performing debt and the related shareholder arrangements governing the parties’ ongoing strategic relationship in Greece.

The transaction involved the establishment of Greece’s largest independent debt servicing company following the European Central Bank’s push to reduce the portfolios of non-performing loans held by Greece’s major lenders. It is expected that the other Greek systemic banks will follow suit with similar transactions.

The Milbank team was led by Global Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets partner Apostolos Gkoutzinis and Corporate partner Mark Stamp in a coordinated cross-practice transaction team comprising Global Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets associates Melanie Probst and Ignacio Perez Bessio with Corporate associates James Mackay and Jag Diogan, Tax partner Russell Jacobs and associate James Seddon, Alternative Investments partner James Warbey with associates Martin Brennan and Peter West and Outsourcing associates Faraaz Samadi and Natasha Neale.