LCM snaps up €300m of Spanish loans – exclusive

LCM Partners, the London-based fund manager, has acquired a portfolio of approximately 1,200 loans from Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar, the Spanish credit cooperative.

The portfolio is valued at around €300 million and comprises secured, non-performing SME loans predominantly secured against residential real estate assets on Spain’s southern and eastern coasts.

The deal represents LCM’s fourth purchase in Spain this year. It has been active in the country since 2004, and it doubled the size of its Link servicing business there last year.

In October last year, LCM bought 400,000 individual Spanish unsecured non-performing and reperforming consumer and SME loans (accounting for €6 billion in assets) from Asian investor Aiqon Capital Group. LCM said the deal was the largest secondary purchase of unsecured NPLs in Spain to date.

“Levels of market activity [in Spain] have certainly increased and this transaction is testament to our ability to source attractive non-performing loan investments for our limited partners,” said Paul Burdell, LCM chief executive officer.

In March this year, LCM struck a partnership agreement with Brookfield Asset Management which saw Brookfield take a 25 percent stake in Link Financial Group, comprising LCM and its loan servicing platform. The giant asset manager also has an option to acquire a further near-25 percent interest over time.

In November 2016, LCM raised over €2 billion for its Credit Opportunities III strategy.