Mortgage financier Interstar Securities has introduced the Australian securitization markets' first-ever structured coupon with the inaugural deal under its A$2 billion ($1.3 billion) Millennium Trust securitization program.
The A$400 million transaction included A$100 million of Class A2 notes on which the coupon replicated an index nominated by the investors with whom the tranche was placed. Details of the index were kept confidential.
The balance of the deal was split between A$172 million of Class A3 notes, A$100 million of Class A4 notes and A$28 million of Class B notes. The call date for the A3 tranche was December 7, 2001; for the others, December 7, 2003.
The Class A2 notes were rated AAA by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, while the A3 and A4 tranches were rated AAA and Class B notes, AA-minus. The pricing for the A2 notes was kept confidential; that for the remaining tranches were 38, 43 and 78 basis points respectively over the bank bill swap rate. Macquarie Bank was lead manager, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia as co-manager.
AMS, a mortgage financier owned by ABN Amro, has privately placed in the market for the first time with a A$100 million deal through ARMS II Fund V. The two-year, soft bullet transaction consisted of a A$97.5 million senior tranche expected to be rated AAA by S&P.
The senior notes were priced at 30 basis points over the one-month bank bill rate. Although pricing on the subordinated tranche was kept confidential, ABN Amro said that, at 2.5% of the issue, it represented a "new benchmark for AMS where subordination has traditionally been 3%." The tranche is expected to be rated AA-minus.
