Just over $6.4 billion of new issue ABS supply priced last week - featuring a good mix of offerings from off- and on-the-run issuers. For example, stranded cost ABS saw its first offering in over six-months, a highly diverse equipment lease deal made the rounds and a delinquent tax lien securitization was marketed by a first-time issuer.
As Wall Street prepared contingency plans for a potential transit workers strike, activity slowed by week's end, with the bulk of the pricing activity coming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Last Monday, Citibank sold its third credit card backed deal in two sessions. The Friday before, it priced $1.275 billion of three- and five-year floaters, following up Monday with $500 million of a 10-year Libor floater.
Also the week of Dec. 2, Capital One Financial completed the wrapped auto loan ABS in the market and Providian Financial sold its first Gateway Master Trust offering this year, a $750 million trade via Deutsche Bank Securities.
Atlantic City Electric, a unit of regional power concern Conectiv, completed the first rate-reduction bond since early June, pricing $440 million through Morgan Stanley. All classes of the four-tranche, fixed-rate deal saw good interest as the window for stranded cost supply - the talk of the market in mid 2000 - quietly closed. Sources say, however, that A.C. Electric has more stranded costs to remove from its books.
Mitsubishi Motor Credit sold its fifth auto loan ABS and its sixth ABS of 2002, with a smaller than usual, $357 million all-floating-rate deal. Morgan Stanley acted as lead manager for the offering, which saw the three-year A4 class price at 45 basis points over three-month Libor.
Sallie Mae, with planned to increase ABS issuance in 2002, completed its ninth transaction this year, eight of which have been backed by traditional student loan product. Offered via a three-way lead of Deutsche Bank Securities, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, three-year spreads tightened one basis point from initial guidance to come in at four over three-month Libor. In 2002, Sallie placed $13.8 billion of student loan ABS, including its first consolidation loan deal.
In mortgage-related ABS, Fannie Mae securitized $913 million of conforming, subprime product through Countrywide Securities. The loans, originated by Countrywide, were sold to Fannie before being offered off the FNW trust issuance shelf. Despite reports of supply-driven weakness in the sector, Fannie got its 4.48-year triple-As done at 18 basis points over one-month Libor, indicating that the 40-plus spreads for most issuers are primarily credit concerns.
In esoteric assets, Plymouth Financial Co. brought $111 million of delinquent tax lien backed ABS in the Rule 144A market. Led by boutique shop Scura, Rise & Partners (founded by long-time ABS scion Paul Scura) and WestLB, the offering is serviced by XSPAND Inc., a municipal tax revenue advisor founded by former N.J. Governor Jim Florio.
As reported in last week's ASR, WestLB was also leading a pair of subprime auto loan-backed deals for Consumer Portfolio Services and Seawest Securitization LLC - both offered in the private market. There was no word as of press time as to whether either offering priced.
