EAA sells significant stake

• Bluestone Group takes over private property loan specialist subsidiary Basinghall

The Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA – First Winding-up Agency) has divested itself of its subsidiary Basinghall Finance Ltd with a nominal loan portfolio of more than EUR 600 million. The EAA Board announced today in Dusseldorf that Bluestone Mortgages is taking over the London based company. The competent British supervisory authorities have approved the transfer. Bluestone is an international provider of mortgage and consumer finance and belongs to a group of institutional investors including the Australian investment bank Macquarie, and LDC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. Experts working for Basinghall will also be transferred to the new owner following the sale. Until now they have worked within the Portigon Group which provides services across the entire EAA portfolio.

The EAA considers the sale of its fourth-biggest operating stake to be an im-portant step in the dismantling of the portfolio worth billions that it took over from the former WestLB as part of a financial market stabilisation. “The di-vestment of Basinghall also accelerates the dismantling process and reduces the complexity of our stake”, explained EAA Board spokesman Matthias Wargers. It should reduce EAA costs and operational risks. The purchaser will fully dissolve the EAA refinancing for Basinghall.