Intesa chairman says sale of bad loan unit won't take long

Virtual Mind Holding Co

10/02/2018 09:13

VERONA, Italy, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Intesa SanPaolo  ISP.MI  
expects a partial sale of its debt collection unit won't take 
long and looks with particular interest at Sweden's Intrum 
Justitia, though China's CEFC is also interested, the Italian 
bank's chairman said.  
    Bowing to regulatory pressure to speed up the reduction of 
bad debts, Intesa is looking to sell a majority stake in its bad 
loan unit together with a large portfolio of soured loans. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PL4YU 
    "It won't take long ... we're confident though it's a 
complex operation," Chairman Gian Maria Gros-Pietro said on the 
sidelines of the Assiom-Forex banking conference.  
    He confirmed a press report that China's CEFC could be 
interested in the business, but added: "Intrum has a lot of 
experience and it's a partner we are considering with very great 
interest."  
 
 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, writing by Valentina Za,) 
 ((mailto:valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;)) 
 
Keywords: EUROZONE BANKS/ITALY INTESA SANPAOLO