A $325 million securitization of diversified payments rights from Turkish commercial bank Garanti Bankasi recently hit the private placement market, sources said. Two monoline bond insurers wrapped the transaction.
JPMorgan Securities arranged the deal, which was structured as a 144A without registration rights. The deal came in two tranches. A $175 million five-year class (6.6-year final) wrapped by MBIA priced at three-month Libor plus 35. An Ambac-wrapped $150 million 5.6-year class (eight year final) priced at three-month Libor plus 38.
While the wraps pulled the deal into triple-A terrain, Garanti is rated B-' by Fitch Ratings on the long-term foreign currency scale, with an A-' national rating.
Headquartered in Istanbul, Garanti claims to be the third largest bank in the country, with assets totaling $12.2 billion as of March 31, 2003. It is a subsidiary of Dogus Holding, the holding company of the Dogus Group, controlled by the Sahenk family.
Sources did not disclose the card program tied to the DPR. Garanti provides a mix of retail, commercial and corporate banking services. It services a line of Acik credit and debit cards targeted at midsized market customers. It is also behind the Bonus Card, a multi-branded chip-based credit card that has issued more than two million cards in Europe, according to Garanti's Web site. Subsidiary banks include GarantiBank in The Netherlands and GarantiBank Moscow, in Russia.
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