Engel & Völkers Investment gains €30m NPL sales mandate

Engel & Völkers Investment Consulting (EVIC), an umbrella organisation set up for the network of more than 300 estate agents working across Germany for Hamburg-based real estate broker group Engel & Völkers, has gained its first Non-Perfoming sales mandate.

Only at the start of this year did EVIC expand its business model to include NPLs, and its first mandate includes the sale of 17 properties valued at around €30 million via Engel & Völkers’ Germany-wide estate agent network. The properties are mainly in B and C locations in western Germany, and consist of retail parks, individual retail properties, and mixed-use properties.

According to Thorsten Brogt, head of Distressed Debt/Opportunity Real Estate Funds at EVIC, “We’re mainly looking at opportunistic investors and regional developers as potential buyers, and here Engel & Völkers’ comprehensive network is definitely an advantage for us in the search for buyers." Brogt recently arrived from NPL workout specialists Hudson Advisers, part of the Lone Star Group. The E&V Group has over 50 commercial offices throughout Germany.

Kai Wolfram, managing partner at EVIC, said, “Within a few weeks, we were able to acquire our first mandate in our new NPL business sector,” said Kai Wolfram, managing partner of Engel &Völkers Investment Consulting. “We are confident that further mandates will follow. The German NPL market has a lot of potential, as many banks have to dispose of their distressed real estate loans. We expect about €6bn in transactions in the current year.”