GE buys $1bln of property loans from Credit Suisse

LONDON (Reuters) - The property investment arm of U.S. conglomerate General Electric (GE.N) has bought a portfolio of loans from Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) for 642 million euros ($1.01 billion), it said on Tuesday.

GE Real Estate said it had acquired a portfolio of 10 loans on a range of properties in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Britain.

In a statement, it said the loans had "attractive" loan-to-value ratios, without giving details.

The purchase adds to GE Real Estate's growing haul of secondary European real estate debt at a time when property values are under pressure and lending to property investors has grown more scarce due to a global credit crunch.

GE Real Estate snapped up a 1.3 billion euro loan portfolio from Capmark Europe in April and 2 billion pounds ($3.99 billion) of commercial property loans from British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley BB.L in November 2007.

(Reporting by William Kemble-Diaz; Editing by Quentin Bryar)

(See www.reutersrealestate.com for the global service for real estate professionals from Reuters).