Banca Azera fund buys 40% of Credinvest shares worth £400m

Credinvest is an independent company based in London that actively operates in the sector of credits securitization on the main international stock markets. 40% of Credinvest shares were acquired by a banking fund with the participation of one of the main banking groups in Azerbaijan.

The transaction aims at the entry of the Azerbaijani banking group into the securitization market of commercial credits, which is a market worth over 830 billion dollars according to the latest Standard and Poors report.

It is an unusual choice that the Azerbaijani group has decided to proceed with the acquisition of one of the few independent securitization companies on the market. Indeed, on the market it is usual to see the presence of branches of banking origin. Despite being a young securitization company, Credinvest had already created several SPV vehicles for the placement of tranches of credits by exploiting its independence from banking groups. Such credits had been originating mainly from the commercial market and personal loans that were directly purchased by creditors without going through banking intermediation.

In the last period, Credinvest was launching the first vehicle for real estate securitization in the sectors of hotel and tourist resorts, both in Europe and in the United States. This was done with the declared intention of placing the first tranche on the London Stock Exchange at the beginning of 2022, whilst having ongoing private negotiations with some Chinese investors for the direct sale of some tranches of credits. And it actually is a Chinese group, the partner of the Azerbaijani institute in the BLACKOAK CAPITAL HOLDING LTD fund, which is the vehicle company used in the operation.

The closing conditions are confidential but it has been made public the amount of the sale equal to the figure of 400 million pounds, which is one of the records for the purchase of an independent securitization company. The new shareholder does not obtain majority control of the company but will be able to block the most important decisions, moreover they will have the right to appoint their own members in the board.

The fund has already requested the convening of the shareholders’ meeting shortly for the appointment of the new board.