BPER, an Italian banking group, and Gardant, the asset management company serving institutional investors, agreed to form a joint venture for the servicing of NPEs. Financial terms were not disclosed. “This is a very important deal for the Gardant Group, as it allows us to continue to grow as an integrated credit and asset manager at the service of banks and investors. This is indeed a major project, as it puts an industrialised and data-centric vision of UTP credit management, starting with small and medium-sized loans, at the centre of the joint-venture’s operations, with a view to re-performing. We are confident, on the strength of our history and excellent team, that this partnership with BPER will be of great satisfaction to both of us. Gardant has already had a successful banking partnership for several years, which demonstrates our prowess to realise ambitious projects," Mirko Briozzo, Gardant CEO.