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Dutch property company Uni-Invest has welcomed the decision by noteholders to accept a credit bid workout option put forward by private equity groups TGP and Patron Capital Partners.

'Today, the future of real estate fund Uni-Invest became clear,' Uni-Invest said in a statement on Tuesday following the conclusion of a dual-track process in which two competing proposals were put before the senior Class A noteholders of the Opera Finance (Uni-Invest) securitisation.

Earlier in the day, the second option, a consensual restructuring porposal championed by Valad Europe, was put to a vote by the Class A noteholders and the holders of B, C and D junior notes, but failed to obtain the required majority of support from Class A noteholders. The private equity 'credit bid' emerged victorious in a second round of voting by the senior noteholders.

Uni-Invest noted that a 'significant majority' of the 93.6% of holders of Class A notes issued by Opera Finance (Uni-Invest) present at Tuesday's EGM voted in support of accepting the TPG and Patron proposal. This will result in the two firms becoming significant stakeholders in Uni-Invest, subject to court approval.

Under the new Uni-Invest structure, the company will have substantial capital available to invest in its properties for the benefit of current and future tenants, the company said.

CEO Pieter Roozenboom of Uni-Invest: 'We are delighted with today's outcome and we look forward to our partnership with TPG and Patron. TPG and Patron are respected private equity firms that have extensive experience in the real estate market in which Uni-Invest operates. We feel that these two new partners can truly add value to our business and help us in further optimizing our portfolio and servicing our clients.'

Valued at EUR 900 mln at the peak of the market, the B-grade Uni-Invest portfolio is burdened by a EUR 750 mln securitised bond. The facility has been in trouble since 2010 ahead of the formal default on the maturity deadline in mid-February this year. Attempts to sell the 1.1 million m² portfolio at a 40% discount were unsuccessful last year.

In a reaction, Marty McCarthy, CEO of Valad Europe, said the company was disappointed not to have secured the 75% threshold required to secure the A Noteholder's positive vote. 'We are however, grateful for the A Noteholders for having selected Valad Europe as their preferred Asset Manager for the consensual restructure option. We continue to believe that consensual restructuring of future CMBS defaults offers a credible alternative to investors who wish to retain control post restructuring, whilst allowing the value of their underlying asset collateral to be maximised and disposed of in an orderly manner.

McCarthy said he looked forward to working with other CMBS noteholders in the future. The firm has previously helped restructure the Kefren and ECREL portfolios to provide 'genuinely innovative' solutions to their needs, he added.