CR wins €350m+ bid for ex-Treveria German portfolio

Independent London and Berlin-based financial advisor, investor and asset manager CR Investment Management managed to clinch the 127-unit “Project Sunrise” German retail portfolio for a price thought to be more than €350m. The deal will see note holders in the outstanding securitised Talisman 6 CMBS loan fully repaid.

The Orange Loan, previously known as the Treveria Silo E Portfolio, which we’ve reported on in these pages a number of times, was originally the loan tranche securitising the retail portfolio owned by the insolvent Treveria when servicer Hatfield Philips turned down a request by the German retail specialist for a second 12-month extension on the loan, after LTV and occupancy targets to secure the extension failed to be met.

Trade journal CoStar Finance reported that CR acquired the portfolio through Sunrise Properties UK Ltd, an investment vehicle separately owned by CR’s shareholders and majority financed by Swiss-based HFS Helvetic Financial Services. Private equity group Cerberus was reported to be an underbidder for the portfolio.

The Project Sunrise portfolio is comprised of mainly commercial real-estate assets across prime locations in Germany including Gloria Galerie retail complex in the heart of Berlin, two shopping centres in Wilhelmshaven and Solingen and department stores in Brühl, Euskirchen and Koblenz.

Hatfield Philips International, as special servicer on the defaulted Orange loan, instructed property advisor JLL to sell the German property portfolio in August, which is one of six remaining securitised loans in the fruit-themed Talisman 6 CMBS. The Orange whole loan is comprised of a remaining €335.48m senior loan balance, in the ABN Amro-issued Talisman 6 CMBS, and a €40.23m B-Loan which was previously owned by Blackrock in its Anthracite CRE CDO.

CR’s €350m purchase price will fully repay all Talisman 6 note holders and the majority of the B-Loan, and reflects a sub-10% discount on the €375.7m unpaid whole loan balance. The portfolio was last valued at €394.9m by BNP Paribas Real Estate in May 2012, based on the original slightly larger 142-strong portfolio. The achieved price comes in at the upper end of HPI’s broad estimation of net recoveries for the original portfolio of between €300m and €380m.

Separately, earlier in December Hatfield Philips together with its affiliated company LNR Partners Germany GmbH said it had managed to fully recover €92.2m for noteholders on the largest loan in Portfolio Green, a securitisation pool. The loan related to closed-end fund borrower group G13, and had been secured by a single office property centrally located with close proximity to major public transportation in Munich totaling 74,833 sqm, and is fully occupied primarily with a single ‘blue chip’ tenant. Noteholders will receive payment in January 2015.