Distressed Asset Portfolios

Insurance to streamline

Transactions involving distressed assets can often be challenging, in terms of timing, cost, the availability of information, and representations and warranties. First Title Insurance plc provides innovative and bespoke insurance products which have been designed to streamline and add security to the trading or refinancing of distressed assets.

Leading Title Insurance

Who are we?First Title was among the first to offer legal indemnity insurance to property sector clients throughout the UK and Europe, from developers to lawyers. Today, we work across all business sectors involved in real estate transactions.

RatingsWith consistent A ratings* from the major rating agencies and the security and financial strength of our parent company First American Financial Corporation behind us, both you and your clients can be safe in the knowledge that you are working with a solid and dependable business partner.

Our ProductsWhether for sellers, purchasers or lenders, our bespoke insurance products reduce the risks inherent in distressed asset transactions by providing protection against a wide range of legal ownership and mortgage security risks.

We offer two core types of cover to prepare difficult assets for sale and provide buyers with the comfort they need to proceed:

■ Known risks – Simple and straightforward, this covers the risks that have been identified during the title examination.

■ Good and marketable title cover – This provides a “wrapper” of protection through surety of ownership and helps ensure a clean exit for the seller.

While these products suit individual transactions perfectly, they are also increasingly used in portfolio scenarios where there may be hundreds or even thousands of assets to consider.

In multiple asset transactions, the traditional due diligence approach is typically less effective, as it is often costly to undertake and takes a significant amount of time to complete.

Our portfolio insurance helps the purchase, refinancing and securitisation of property and loan portfolios complete quicker and more cost-effectively, without compromising on security.

We achieve this by working alongside the legal team during due diligence and conducting a sampling approach of the portfolio. We then assess the overall risk based on our sampling and offer a good and marketable title guarantee across the entire portfolio.

Risks in Distressed Asset Transactions

■ Limited or lack of title reps and warranties.

■ Costly and time-consuming legal due diligence.

■ Qualified legal opinion due to sample based due diligence.

■ Decreased asset value.

Benefits of Distressed Asset InsuranceFor the seller our policies can assist by:

■ Offering a clean exit, free of contingent liabilities.

■ Helping to reduce the risk of “price-chipping” by the purchaser.

■ Complementing or replacing title reps and warranties.

■ Streamlining the sales process.

■ Enhancing the marketability of the asset.

For the buyer our policies can assist by:

■ Offering surety of ownership.

■ Avoiding the need to “take a view”.

■ Streamlining the due diligence process, saving time and cost and, where relevant, enhancing your bid.

■ Providing cover for every asset in the portfolio.

■ Helping to facilitate and streamline lending.

■ Helping to manage the buyer’s exit strategy.

First Title Insurance plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. First Title Insurance plc is registered in England under company number 01112603. Registered office: First Title Insurance plc, ECA Court, 24-26 South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1DU.

Call: +44 (0)20 7160 8666 Email: comm.team@firsttitle.eu Visit: www.firsttitle.eu*Please refer to our website for further information.