CREDIT SUISSE HIGH : GE buys $1bln of property loans from Credit Suisse

LONDON (Reuters) - The property investment arm of U.S. conglomerate General Electric has bought a portfolio of loans from Credit Suisse 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 in November 2007.

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

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