Spain’s Banco Popular (POP.MC) has sold 620 million euros ($660.98 million) of non-performing property loans to U.S. asset managers Apollo (APO.N) and Blackstone (BX.N), a bank spokesman said on Thursday.

The sale comes as Popular, Spain’s sixth largest by assets, presses on with its plan to reduce its toxic real estate portfolio by 15 billion euros by 2018, almost half its total exposure.

In December Popular said it would replace Chairman Angel Ron after shareholders rebelled over his slow progress in cleaning up the bank’s property loan book.

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