UNICREDIT, INTESA, KKR TO LAUNCH RESTRUCTURED LOAN PROJECT IN COMING WEEKS - SOURCES
UniCredit, Intesa, KKR to launch loan vehicle in weeks - sources CRDI.MI ISP.MI KKR.N - RTRS
MILAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Italy's top two banks, Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI and UniCredit CRDI.MI, will launch a plan to pool some of their restructured loans with the help of U.S. private equity fund KKR KKR.N in the coming weeks, three sources close to the matter said.
Italian lenders had bad debts worth around 330 billion euros ($364 billion) at the end of June as a result of a three-year-long recession.
Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit first announced the project to set up a vehicle to hold more than 1 billion euros of soured loans one year ago and expectations were that they would launch it by the end of 2014.
Ironing out legal and tax issues, however, took longer than expected, forcing the banks to postpone the plan and take a more gradual step-by-step approach.
"The main legal hurdles have been overcome and the banks will soon put some of the loans in the vehicle," one of the sources said.