Deloitte Legal affiliated firm Reff & Associates has advised Bank of Cyprus on the sale of a portfolio of non-performing loans and repossessed properties in Romania with a face value of EUR 147 million to an entity part of the APS group. Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii advised the buyer.
According to Reff & Associates, this is the largest deal of non-performing assets on the Romanian market in 2022. "The transaction was signed in May 2022 and closed on August 24, 2022, after being scrutinized by the Romanian Competition Council," the firm added, explaining that "the sale of the residual Romanian portfolio of non-performing assets held by the Cypriot group was made in the context of Bank of Cyprus' decision to wind down its operations in our country, which was gradually implemented over the last years."
"This was the last key milestone transaction in our overseas deleverage plan, as we continue shifting our focus on serving our local market," Bank of Cyprus Manager Corporate Finance Solutions Ioannis Petrou commented.
"The closing of this deal, which, based on publicly available information, seems to be the largest transaction of this kind on the Romanian NPL market in 2022, is a great success for our team, due to its high legal complexity and the very tight implementation calendar," added Reff & Associates Partner Andrei Burz-Pinzaru. "We are very grateful to the bank for the trust they have shown us over the years of our collaboration and I want to congratulate my colleagues for their professionalism and the dedication they showed in this challenging project."
The Reff & Associates team was led by Senior Managing Associate Andreea Serban and included Partners Burz-Pinzaru and Florentina Munteanu, Managing Associate Diana Stan, Senior Associates Iulian Maier, Alexandru Butusina, and Mihnea Radu, and Associate Danut Arion.
The Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii team was coordinated by Partner Mihai Dudoiu and included Managing Associate Sergiu Negreanu and Associate Sorina Stefoni.
