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Alantra appoints Francesco Dissera to lead its Securitisation business


Date 3 November 2020

  • Francesco Dissera has recently joined Alantra as a Managing Director to lead its Securitisation business focused on European corporates, banks and government assets, alongside Managing Director James Fadel, who leads Alantra’s Secured Funding business which focuses on European banks and non-bank lenders.
  • Francesco brings over 22 years of experience in the securitisation industry, having advised and supported its clients to manage capital and liquidity, including 90 ABS transactions across EMEA, with a focus on FIG, Corporate, and Government related assets.
  • Based in London, the new securitisation business will comprise a team of more than 15 senior professionals dedicated to advising on securitisation and secured financing transactions across Europe.
  • During the last two years, Alantra has built an excellent reputation in the space of NPL securitisations where is has been the lead and/or co lead advisor on securitisations with a c. €15bn of gross book value (GBV), including some of the first and largest transactions ever executed in Greece, Cyprus, and Spain and the addition of Francesco to the team will allow Alantra to expand this success in NPL securitisation to performing banking, corporate and government receivables and assets across Europe.

London – Alantra, the global investment banking and asset management specialist, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Francesco Dissera as Managing Director to lead the newly created securitisation activity, alongside James Fadel’s secured financing activities. Leveraging on the firm’s strong local presence and deep penetration across Europe, the appointment positions Alantra as one of the leading independent advisors in secured funding and securitised products to European corporates.

Mr Dissera joins the Group from Banco Santander, where he led the Continental Europe Securitisation business, managing its own capital and risk, focusing both on public and private transactions. He is an experienced professional with more than 22 years of proven knowledge of the securitisation industry. Prior to this role, he was head of Structuring and Advisory at StormHarbour Securities for over 4 years. He spent 14 years at UBS, building the securitisation and covered bond business across EMEA, and latterly he led the EMEA securitisation team. Before UBS, Mr Dissera spent 3 years at JP Morgan in London and New York, where he was involved in executing the very first Italian ABS transactions.

Nicholas Colman, Managing Partner at Alantra’s Credit Portfolio Advisory business (“Alantra CPA”), states: “We are delighted to welcome Francesco Dissera to Alantra, an expert with an outstanding track record and reputation in the industry. Francesco’s CV speaks for itself and includes over 90 ABS transactions across EMEA, with a focus on FIG, Corporate, and Government related assets. We believe we already have a very unique skill set when it comes to modelling asset performance through the cycle and his knowledge on the liabilities side will help us expand our expertise and reputation in the securitisation business as the “go-to”, independent arranger for securitisations where the transfer of risk is a key driver for our client”.

Miguel Hernández, CEO of Alantra’s Investment Banking division, says: “Francesco has unique expertise in the structured finance industry and represents a great addition to our team. Aligning these capabilities with our local presence and deep penetration in Europe’s key markets will create an excellent value proposition to European banks, non-banking lenders, and corporates at a critical moment”.

Francesco Dissera says: “I am very excited to join Alantra and to be able to expand the firm’s capabilities in securitisation and structured credit through best-in-class independent financial advisory. With its analytical platform and deep understanding of client’s portfolios, I strongly believe Alantra will play a pivotal role in the coming years in the securitisation of both performing and non-performing loans”.

Alantra CPA, a leading player in Europe in distressed credit portfolio advisory

Alongside Managing Director James Fadel, who leads Alantra CPA’s Secured Funding business, Mr Dissera will lead a London-based team of more than 15 senior professionals dedicated to advising in Securitisation and Structured Finance transactions across Europe.

Alantra CPA has been one of the most active players in Europe in the areas of distressed credit securitisation, advising clients on deleveraging c. €15bn of GBV in the two years since the team was established at Alantra; and optimising funding and capital for banks and non-bank lenders across Europe.

Notably, Alantra CPA recently acted as co-arranger and financial lead advisor to Eurobank in the first Greek NPL securitisation (Project Pillar, with €2bn of GBV) and then in the largest Greek NPL securitisation (Project Cairo, €7.5bn GBV); advised Piraeus Bank and Intrum in a c. €1.9bn residential mortgages NPE securitisation (Project Phoenix); and Bank of Cyprus on a €2.7bn securitisation (Project Helix).  In addition, Alantra CPA raised £100m of secured funding for UK bridge and development finance lender Propfin (Project Landmark) and over €300m of back book and “forward flow” funding for asset finance lender PEAC Finance (Projects Juniper I and Juniper II).

This move will further strengthen Alantra CPA’s leading position in advising banking and non-banking players in distressed credit situations. With eight offices on three continents, the team has advised in over 250 deals with a combined deal value of over €200bn since 2014. The division, which already includes over 150 dedicated professionals, announced this year that it had expanded its senior capabilities in Europe with the appointment of Marcus Evans, Christos Stefanidis, Manuel Macedo, Martin Rauchenwald, and Holger Beyer as senior hires in the UK, Greece, Portugal, Switzerland, and London respectively.

The firm has also increased its global footprint in 2020 by establishing local presence in Latin America and Asia. The Latin American operations are headquartered in Sao Paulo, where the CPA team has two local professionals focused on opportunities across the credit, banking, and real estate markets. In China, Alantra has two professionals working from Shanghai to cover the emerging Chinese credit market, primarily focused on helping international investors to understand and access the Chinese distressed debt and non-performing loan market.