Esoteric

Zephyrus, which is owned by Virgo Investment Group (98%) and Seabury (2%), is marketing $336.6 million of fixed-rate loans with a final maturity of 2038 and a preliminary A rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Fitch and S&P recently trimmed default expectations for payment plans of customers with various tenures; this allows the carrier to offer less credit enhancement on its next securitization; Moody's is also rating the deal for the first time.

The transaction was launched in early June, just as concerns about a trade war were starting to take a toll on commodities prices.

The credit quality of obligors is up from that of the sponsor's 2017 transaction, which could help offset a decline in performance seen in recent vintages.

The deal, which comes just a year after the commodity trading firm's last securitization, represents 7.85% of assets in a revolving trust; it may be upsized to $500 million.

Jeff Weinstein and Patrick Lampe join from the Chicago office of Sidley Austin; Morgan Lewis partner Philip Russell is relocating from the firm’s New York office.

PACE Funding Group, based in Los Gatos, Calif., recently obtained a $55 million line of credit from SunTrust Bank and Rosemawr Management and is gearing up for its second securitization later this year.

The transaction comes with a bigger prefunding account than the sponsor's prior deal, completed in 2015; the collateral is also more geographically diverse.

S&P has lowered default expectations for the $300 million of Series 2018-1 transaction, allowing the sponsor to achieve an AAA, up from A on the previous deal; Kroll is not rating the new deal.

Proceeds will be used to repay its $1.29 billion whole business securitization completed in 2014; the new transaction will boost leverage to 5.9X from 5.7x.