The U.S. asset-backed market quietly priced approximately $4.4 billion of new supply last week, up from $2.66 billion the week before, with issuance focused on the real-estate related and private-label credit card sectors.
High profile issues priced during the week from Household Finance and World Financial Network in the credit card sector as well as a Countrywide-originated home equity loan-backed deal, guaranteed by a full Fannie Mae surety wrap. Sprinkled in throughout the week were smaller offerings focused primarily on the home equity loan sector.
With its second guarantee of home equity loan-backed paper of the year, Fannie Mae 2001-W2 wrapped $1.22 billion of home equity loan-backed paper via the lead of Countrywide Securities. The loans backing the deal were conforming under Fannie's new program, despite the "blemished credit" histories of the borrowers in the pool.
The implicit government guarantee behind the GSE took any default risk out of the issue, as the multi-tranche offering priced in line with recently offered Freddie Mac-wrapped FSPC T series-wrapped deals. The $510 million floating-rate AV1 class, with a 2.5-year average life, priced at par with a coupon of 13 basis points over one-month Libor, versus a spread of 14 over for a three-year class of the most recent Option One FSPC T-35 deal. Sources close to the offering added that most of the classes were oversubscribed.
Staying in RMBS-related sectors, new issues priced last week from Countrywide Home Loans Inc., GMAC-RFC and Equity One and a timeshare receivables offering marketed in the Rule 144A market for Trendwest Resorts.
Countrywide priced two deals during the week, issuing $400 million of B and C-rated subprime mortgage-backed paper and $240 million of a straight home equity loan securitization both via the lead of unit Countrywide Securities.
GMAC-RFC sold a $255 million series 2001-RZ3 deal from its RAMP issuance shelf via the lead of Bear Stearns. The offering is just the tip of the iceberg for the quarterly issuer as up to five more new issues are in the works for the coming weeks for RFC, totaling up to a reported $5 billion.
Real Estate Investment Trust Equity One sold its second home- equity deal of the year, with the completion of a $175.5 million 2001-2 deal via First Union Securities.
Trendwest was marketing a $200 million four-tranche fixed-rate timeshare deal throughout the week in the Rule 144A market via the sole lead of Banc One Capital Markets. The deal had yet to priced as of press time.
The other hot area last week was the private-label niche of the credit card sector, with $1.98 billion of supply from infrequent issuers Household and World Financial.
Household brought two series of paper concurrently, totaling $1.082 billion, with the sale of $458 million of series 2001-1 and $624 million series 2001-2 notes via the lead of Credit Suisse First Boston. The senior class of the three-year floating-rate 2001-1 offering priced with a coupon of 14 basis points over one-month Libor, tightening one basis point from initial guidance. Additionally, a fixed-rate series 2001-2 A class priced to yield 15 basis points over three-year swaps, also tightening one basis point from initial guidance
Household achieved its unstated goal of pricing "close to (where) Sears" priced its most recent card deal. On May 31, Sears priced $700 million of series 2001-2 senior three-year paper with a coupon of three-month Libor plus 11 basis points.
World Financial Network, currently a subsidiary of Alliance Data Systems, priced $900 million of three-year private-label credit card paper via the lead of JP Morgan. The series 2001-A offering came in at 25 basis points over one-month Libor for the $700 million senior class and 70 basis point over Libor for the $76.5 million single-A rated B class, both in line with initial guidance.
Credited for the deal's success was Alliance's recent IPO, which raised $156 million. The company's affiliation with former parent The Limited, which owns approximately 20% of ADS and is its biggest customer, was also seen as having a positive impact on the deal.
