Spain’s asset management company from bank restructuring (Sareb), also known as the “bad bank,” will be able to continue operating if it has not managed to divest or transfer all its assets to Sepes by the scheduled liquidation date of November 28, 2027.

Sareb acknowledges that although its lifespan officially ends in two years—fifteen years after its creation—it is likely that by that date there will still be assets on its balance sheet that have neither been transferred to Sepes nor sold. “Therefore, Sareb will be a company in liquidation that must, to some extent, continue its liquidation activity unless there is some kind of change in this regard,” the FROB (its main shareholder, with more than 50% of the capital) confirmed in Spain’s Congress of Deputies, through statements made by its president, Álvaro López Barceló.

Sareb was created in 2012 following the financial crisis and the burst of the housing bubble, with the aim of orderly liquidating these assets over a 15-year period, until November 2027. It currently holds around 37,000 assets on its balance sheet and adds roughly 10,000 each year.

Strategic Plan

Sareb is expected to approve its new strategic plan in the coming weeks, focusing on the next two years before entering liquidation, according to informed sources. The new state-owned housing and land company is also expected to announce its own strategy soon.

In July, the Council of Ministers approved the transfer of over 40,000 Sareb-owned homes and nearly 2,400 land plots—capable of hosting another 55,000 homes—to Sepes, forming the core of a new large state-owned housing company. Earlier in January, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the transfer of 30,000 Sareb homes to the new public company—13,000 immediately—and another 10,000 in 2026, according to Efe.

In this context, Sareb aims to focus over the next two years on preparing and transferring assets identified for handover to the new public housing company while also continuing to divest a “significant” part of its remaining portfolio not transferred to Sepes, as stated by the FROB president.

New Scenario

Given this new outlook, Sareb is negotiating with its property management service providers, mainly Hipoges and Anticipa-Aliseda, to adjust their contracts following the transfer of a large portion of the “bad bank’s” assets to the new state housing and land company established by the government.

Original Story: La Razón | Author: J.Sanz
Edition and translation: Prime Yield