Tarshop, an Argentine credit card designed for use in shopping malls that belong local real estate conglomerate IRSA, is about to issue a $13 million securitization of its receivables. HSBC will be the arranger for the deal, which is rated AAA on the national scale by Standard & Poor's.
Like Tarjeta Naranja - another local credit card issuer that securitized $75 million of its receivables last year - Tarshop's cards are targeted to lower and middle income borrowers who would not usually apply for bank credit cards. The card was launched in October of 1996 and offers added bonuses to its clients, such as special discounts at the malls, cash advances and personal loans.
"Tarshop is growing rapidly, " said Juan Pablo de Mollein, analyst with S&P in Buenos Aires. "I believe that the transaction will fare well with local investors and that we'll see similar deals in the market in the near future."
Banco Bansud S.A., meanwhile, recently closed the second auto-loan securitization through its Multiactivos 2000 vehicle. With ABN AMRO as its fiduciary agent, Bansud sold $19.8 worth of peso-denominated notes.
The one-year bonds feature a 12.85% coupon, were offered in three tranches and were rated by S&P and Thomson BankWatch. Class A consisted of $15.9 million notes rated AAA, class B was $1.6 million of BBB rated notes and the $1.4 million in participation certificates received BB ratings.
Also, Transportadora del Gas del Norte is said to we working on a securitization deal for approximately $100 million that will feature political risk insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corp.
