Provisions against eastern German property loans cost Dresdner euro500m last year.The deal ought to allow the banks to cut the weight of property and public-sector loans in their balance sheets.
Originally it was speculated that Quinlan was looking to raise money for an eastern European property investment fund, but it is expected that the money will now be used for general purposes and may also include non-property deals.
Former NSW premier, Sir Robin Askin, was believed to grant knighthoods for this purpose – in some instances, to pay for gambling debts owed to Sydney's famous cluster of Eastern European property developers and industrial types.
The merger quickly led to the discovery of a DM3.5 billion (these days, €11.8 billion) hole, mainly in eastern German property loans.Dieter Rampl, HVB's eternally optimistic boss, insists that this is the end of the bad news, and that his bank can concentrate on its profitable areas.
According to the blog Reclaim Istanbul, over a dozen more buildings were picked up by international companies like Dutch firm VastNed and UK-based Eastern European Property Fund Limited (EEPFL).
But as was often the case with formerly state-owned eastern Berlin properties, finding the owners was not easy.
It was "full of eastern promise", with property bargains at "a tenth of the cost" of similar apartments in the French Alps.
The company has yet to come up with plans for the land, in a deteriorating section of eastern Las Vegas where property values are falling and crime is rampant.
