Following the announcement in September 2012 of plans to "manage down its U.S. property-lending business," ING Real Estate Finance, the commercial lending unit of Netherlands-based ING Groep (ING 1.89%), has sold a $1.6 billion commercial loan portfolio to Wells Fargo (WFC -0.26%), ING Real Estate announced today.
The sale, made up of 29 performing loans, is equal to approximately 50% of ING Real Estate's total U.S. loan portfolio, according to its statement. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.
Commenting on the transaction, Michael Shields, managing director and head of ING Real Estate Finance Western Europe, UK, USA and Structured Products, was quoted as saying, "This divestment is a result of the successful execution of our strategy to capitalize on current robust U.S. market conditions to generate strong interest in the loan portfolio among a high-quality pool of potential buyers."
The head of commercial real estate for Wells Fargo, Mark Myers, was quoted in the same press release as saying, "Many of our existing customers have loans in this portfolio as well, and we look forward to meeting the needs of those customers while strengthening our Commercial Real Estate business through this acquisition."
