At closing, the UniCredit transaction will represent the largest ever non-performing loan (NPL) transaction in Europe.
Fortress began investing in Italian loans and loan servicing in 2000, with its investment in Italfondiario (Italfondiario), which was subsequently transformed from a mortgage bank into a specialized loan management company.
Fortress’s other major transactions include its acquisition, in 2005, of €13bn in NPLs from Intesa banking group, and in 2015, the acquisition of specialized servicer UniCredit Credit Management Bank (renamed doBank ).
In total, not including the newly announced UniCredit transaction, Fortress and its affiliates have acquired approximately €22bn of NPLs in Italy since 2000.
By combining doBank with Italfondiario, Fortress has also created the largest independent special servicer in Italy, with approximately €83bn of combined loans under management as of June 30, 2016, over seven times the size of the next largest competitor.
