Anglo liquidator sells portfolio of corporate loans

The liquidation vehicle for Ireland’s failed Anglo Irish Bank expects to sell 84 percent of a portfolio of corporate loans at prices above independent valuations, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

Ireland, due to leave its bailout this weekend, is still trying to put its banking industry back in order after its 2008 rescue of lenders pushed it deep into debt and eventually forced it to seek help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Anglo Irish was wrecked in 2008 when a property bubble burst after years of reckless lending and sparked more public anger in June when a newspaper published phone conversations of executives laughing at being rescued by the government.

The bank eventually cost taxpayers some 30 billion euros ($41 billion) in the financial crisis, almost one-fifth of the country’s annual output, and three former executives will go on trial next year on fraud charges.

Its liquidator Irish Bank Resolution Corp (IBRC) concluded bidding for a first package of assets on Friday, securing binding offers for a portfolio consisting primarily of Irish corporate loans with a par value of about 2.5 billion euros.

“This is a very successful outcome for the Special Liquidators and given the sale included Irish corporate loans it provides further evidence of the strong confidence of international investors in the Irish economy and its future prospects,” Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in a statement.

Sales to third parties will reduce the total of Anglo Irish assets that are transferred to Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency, its “bad bank”.

“I remain satisfied that further calls on the Exchequer over those already budgeted are not now expected as a result of this process,” Noonan said. Source: Reuters.