On the heels of its U.S. counterpart's recent middle-market CLO issuance (ASR, 06/11/07), London-based European leveraged-loan manager Babson Capital Europe announced the close last week of a 500 million CLO, Malin CLO B.V.
The fund will invest in senior secured and mezzanine loans and will include a 100 million multicurrency revolver that can be drawn to buy either euro or sterling loans. The blended triple-A tranche priced at 21 basis points over Euribor and the double-B tranche priced at 340 basis points over Euribor. The fund was approximately 75% ramped at closing.
Goldman Sachsarranged the transaction with buyers that included European banks, asset and fund managers.
At the end of May, Babson Capital Europe managed more than 5.9 billion in nine CLO funds, one mezzanine fund, one credit opportunities fund, two managed accounts, and two warehouses. The firm is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Babson Capital Management and has been investing in the loan market since 2001.
