The IFC said it approved a loan of up to P1.79 billion to ACP Investments One Inc. to acquire NPAs from Philippine banks and other financial institutions.
The financing, IFC said, will allow Philippine banks to free up capital and increase lending to businesses that can create jobs.
ACP Investments One is a special purpose vehicle and owned by Altus Capital Corp., which has expertise in managing portfolios of nonperforming loans and distressed real-estate assets.
The IFC said the 7-year senior loan is part of its debt and asset recovery program, "which helps financial institutions in various countries offload nonperforming assets so that they can extend more credit to enterprises, especially in rural sectors where access to finance is limited."
ACP Investments One president Benjamin C. Sevilla said the loan will assist financial institutions to offload their NPAs, strengthen their balance sheet, as well as free up resources for lending.
"This effort will build the capacity of local asset managers by bringing in global best practices in asset resolution," he said.
IFC resident representative Jesse Ang said IFC’s debt and asset recovery program has allowed banks to offload up to $21.5 billion in nonperforming loans and helped 4.9 million families and small enterprises normalize their financial obligations.
"People were able to save their homes and other assets, while the enterprises’ renewed access to formal credit kept their businesses going and preserved existing jobs or created new ones," Ang said.
As of September 2014, Philippine banks held some P140 billion worth of nonperforming loans and P135 billion in distressed real and other properties.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
