Following a two-month lull in issuance, the pipeline for equipment asset-backed securities is beginning to show some life, with over $1 billion in the pipeline to close before the Bahamas conference in early October, market sources say.
Save Conseco Finance's $600-plus million deal in early August, small ticket leasing issuers have been largely absent from the market since June.
At press time, Marlin Leasing Corp. was premarketing a deal via underwriters Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers.
Not counting agricultural and construction, three additional small-ticket equipment term deals should hit the market within the next couple of weeks, though only one will be offered as a public deal. Three will be privately placed in the Rule 144A market.
Further, one of the deals is said to be wrapped, and one is said to be a first time issuer.
According to Denise Person of Moody's Investors Service, a few of the pending small ticket transactions have been in the works since early July - one as far back as June.
"It's basically been because of market conditions [that the deals have taken time]," Person said.
"What you're going to see is that they're all going to come out at the same time," she added. "They all try to go when market conditions are best."
Further down the line, El Camino, a company that leases computer and high tech equipment, is likely to do a deal in the fourth quarter. There's also talk of SierraCities, The CIT Group, and Heller Financial securitizing in the fourth quarter.
Heller, which hasn't issued since late last year, filed an S-3 with the Securities & Exchange Commission earlier this year. According to the filing, Heller will issue a senior/subordinate transaction, with class A-1 through A-4 notes, subordinated by B class and C class notes.
Separately, out of the A&G equipment sector, Orix Credit Alliance and CNH each priced a deal within the last few weeks, for approximately $1.2 billion in combined issuance.
