Goldman Sachs takes a bit of distress

The Financial Times is running a story about Goldman Sachs getting back into the European property game through a distressed asset purchase made by its Whitehall fund group.

Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall fund group, one of the largest investors in property debt over the past two decades, has acquired almost 900 non-performing and sub-performing loans backed by Italian residential property, which had an original value of about €120m ($174m).

Goldman Sachs declined to give the price, but it is thought that they have been bought at less than half face value given the decline in property. All loans were made between 2006 and 2007 by an Italian financial services company in administration.