ABN Amro puts 3 billion euros of infrastructure loans up for sale

ABN Amro Bank is offloading a portfolio of about 3 billion euros (S$4.25 billion) of infrastructure loans, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Dutch lender is targeting potential buyers including private credit funds, said the people, asking not to be identified because the transaction is private. Morgan Stanley is arranging the sale process for ABN, some of the people said.

Representatives for ABN and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

The loan sale comes at the same time as the Dutch government, which is the lender’s largest shareholder, plans to reduce its equity stake to 30 per cent from 40.5 per cent. Once the state’s holding falls below one third, it will lose the right to be informed of decisions regarding investments or divestments worth 50 million euros or more.

Selling infrastructure loans is a way for lenders to reduce exposure to risk. The infrastructure sector has been struggling over the past few years, with underlying asset values taking a hit from higher interest rates and inflation, as well as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Banco Santander last year kicked off the sale of an 800 million euro portfolio of loans to infrastructure companies.

After a 22 billion euro government rescue in the financial crisis, ABN has been transformed into a consumer lender focused on the Netherlands. It hasn’t been able to pay bonuses to top management under a restrictive local regulation, which has been a stumbling block in the search for a new chief executive officer, Bloomberg has reported. Robert Swaak announced in August that he will step down as CEO in the first half of 2025. BLOOMBERG