Morgan Stanley purchases €220m of Nama loan book

Nama has sold on 0.3% of its loan book to Morgan Stanley, valued at over €200m.

A spokesperson for Nama described the sale of the loans backed by properties and development projects in London and Manchester as a substantial move by the agency.

The loans are known as the Saturn Portfolio and consist of about €263m of loans to West Properties.

The European head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, Brian Niles, said that the New York-headquartered bank was pleased to have acquired the loans.

“We’re pleased to be at the forefront in acquiring loan portfolios from Nama, and we look forward to generating value for our investors.”

Property Week reported last November that the loans had been sold for about €77m, or a 70% discount on the original value of €220m.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed in the announcement of the sale yesterday.

However, a source close to Nama disputed the sale figure reported earlier.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing is the global property investment management arm of Morgan Stanley.

Established in the early 1990s, has been one of the most active property investors for two decades, acquiring over €150bn worth of assets in 36 countries.