Atlantic Union Bankshares in Richmond, Va., sold $2 billion of performing CRE loans to Blackstone.
Atlantic Union, which inherited the loans when it bought Sandy Spring Bancorp on April 1, said when it announced the acquisition last year that it planned to sell the CRE loans.
The loan sale “is another proof point of Atlantic Union’s ability to execute and deliver on transactions that create long-term value for our shareholders,” John Asbury, Atlantic Union’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “The loan sale transaction reduces our CRE concentration and frees up capacity for potential future growth.”
The loan pool was sold in the low 90s as a percentage of par value. Atlantic Union retained customer-facing servicing responsibilities.
Atlantic Union plans to use the proceeds from the sale to pay down certain high-cost deposits and other high-cost funds, as well as to add to its securities portfolio.
Morgan Stanley and Hunton Andrews Kurth advised Atlantic Union. Citigroup Global Markets; CBRE National Loan & Portfolio Sale Advisors; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Ropes & Gray; and Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff advised Blackstone.