NB NPLs sold for “fair price” price says Deloitte

An audit by the consultants Deloitte has concluded that in three sales of NPL portfolios held by Novo Banco, the price offered to investors was the highest market price for the assets.

The sale of three credit portfolios by Novo Banco in 2019 was at the highest market price and in line with the Capital Contingency Agreement (CCA) according to an audit by Deloitte.
“In three sale processes analysed, it was seen that the highest offers from investors were the ones chosen to sell”. In other words the portfolios went to the highest bidder.
The document, which has been seen by the news agency Lisa, had some lines blackened out on the grounds of confidentiality.
According to the audit, “The offers chosen for the signing of the purchase and sales contract, supported by the contribution from the financial and legal advisors in the processes, were from those (buyers) that offered the most favourable conditions.”
The conditions are regarding the “greater flexibility in the changes of the conditions offered in the Sales and Purchasing Contracts and a lesser risk of possible future compensation arising from the representations and guarantees given”.
In two of the credit portfolios analysed, Albatros and Sertorius, it was “possible to verify that the sales values for the two operations aforementioned were consistent with the intervals of the values determined, which showed that the initial (first valuation) valuation for these two portfolios would have resulted in a loss which was obvious on the completion of the transactions.”
In other words, the lower offers that would have resulted in a loss for the bank compared to the best prices offered.
As to the Nata II portfolio, a “fairness opinion” was issued by an external and non identified entity (name blackened out in the text) “in the final phase of the sale process, the price received for the sale of the portfolio was fair from a financial point of view.”