IFIS CEO expects binding bids for sale of bad loan business by end of year (updated)

Banca Ifis

04/08/2026 16:24

Adds details on calendar provisioning rules changes in paragraphs 2-3
MILAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Italy's Banca IFIS IF.MI expects to receive binding bids by the end of the year for its non-performing loan (NPL) business which it has put on the block due to European Central Bank rules on provisioning, Chief Executive Frederik Geertman said.
Such rules, known as calendar provisioning, force banks to progressively provision in full against impaired loans.
Introduced in 2018, calendar provisioning initially applied to both new and existing NPLs for larger euro zone lenders. The ECB decided in December to also include the legacy NPLs of smaller banks under a three-year phased adoption period.
IFIS owned an NPL portfolio worth €16.2 billion ($18.7 billion) at the end of June in gross terms and €1.5 billion net of provisions, presentation slides showed.
Geertman said that "very high-level players", both international and domestic, had expressed an interest in the asset, signing non-disclosure accords.
IFIS, which a year ago acquired rival bad loan specialist illimity, expects non-binding bids by the end of September, followed by binding offers within the year so as to conclude the process in the first half of 2027, the CEO said.
Asked about an Italian press report that funds Apollo, Cerberus and Fortress were interested in the bad loan business, the CEO confirmed suitors included large private equity firms, without providing specific names.
By the end of September IFIS also expects to receive the preliminary findings of an ongoing audit by the Bank of Italy, he added.
In announcing it was disposing of its bad loan business, IFIS in June said it was proactively booking provisions due to the Bank of Italy audit as well as updated recovery projections on bad loans it had acquired through illimity.

     ($1 = 0.8678 euros)

 (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones and Keith Weir)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))