SAN FRANCISCO -- Glendale Federal Bank has agreed to sell $226 million in problem assets to four buyers, fulfilling its pledge to carry out a bulk transaction without taking additional charges against earnings.
Winning bidders for Glendale Federal's assets, which were divided into six pools, were Wells Fargo & Co.; Aldrich Eastman Waltch; Colony Capital Inc.; and Oxford Life Insurance Co.
No Details
The Glendale, Cal.-based thrift did not disclose prices except to say that sale proceeds will exceed book value of the assets, net of loan-loss reserves.
But sources close to the transaction said the sale prices ranged from 75% to 82% of the assets' original loan values of approximately $250 million, suggesting a total of roughly $190 million.
That amount represents an 8% premium to the values, net of reserves, at which Glendale carries the assets on its books, the sources said. That will permit the thrift to reallocate reserves to other problem assets.
The sale will trim Glendale's nonperforming assets by $186.4 million, or 21.5% of the $866.8 million in nonperformers held at the end of March. Glendale's total assets were $17.3 billion.
Assets Detailed
Bidding was said to be very competitive, with two dozen participants making offers for one or more pools. Assets, mainly in Southern California, included foreclosed commercial real estate, performing and non-performing apartment and commercial property loans, and $2 million in single family residential loans.
Glendale Federal chairman and chief executive Stephen J. Trafton noted his institution's "patience in waiting for improved market conditions rather than dumping loans at fire sale prices," an allusion to thrifts that wrote off hefty amounts to cover bulk-asset sales.
