A joint bid from Goldman Sachs and CarVal Investors, as well as an approach by Cerberus Capital Management, are understood to have made the shortlist for one of the largest loan portfolios ever put up for sale by NAMA.
The firms make up two out of three bidders on the shortlist for the National Asset Management Agency’s Project Arrow, which includes €7.6 billion of par value loans, according to a source quoted by news agency Bloomberg.
The portfolio consists of mainly non-performing loans tied to thousands of properties across the country.
The loans are set to be sold at a fraction of their original value, however it will still mark one of the biggest property-related sales ever seen in Ireland.
Last month, Lloyds Banking Group agreed to sell commercial loans in Ireland to a group of buyers including Goldman Sachs, Bank of Ireland and CarVal for about £827 million.
Cerberus won out in NAMA’s previous largest asset sale, acquiring the agency’s £4.5 billion Northern Irish loan book last year.
Police in Northern Ireland opened a criminal probe in July into claims surrounding the transaction, including that some legal fees tied to the deal ended up in the private bank account of a Belfast-based lawyer.
Cerberus has said it acted completely “professionally and properly at all times” on the transaction.
Officials at NAMA, Goldman Sachs and CarVal declined to comment to Bloomberg on Project Arrow, while a Cerberus spokesman could not comment when reached by phone.
