Ford Credit Receivables Trust priced a A$400 million auto receivables asset-backed deal consisting of A$368 million of Series A senior bonds maturing December 2006 and rated triple-A by Fitch and Moody's Investors Service.
There were also three subordinated tranches, only one of which - Series B - was rated. This consisted of A$11 million maturing in March 2007 and rated single A by Fitch and A2 by Moody's. Series C and Series D consisted of A$11 million and A$10 million, respectively. Series A priced at 30 basis points over the bank bill swap rate and Series B, at 70 basis points over the benchmark. Pricing for the unrated tranches was not disclosed. Lead manager was Credit Suisse First Boston.
Bank of Queensland
Bank of Queensland has priced its second mortgage-backed securities deal of the year, a A$280 million transaction through its REDS Trust program, designated 2001-2 REDS Trust.
The deal was split into four tranches: tranche A1 and tranche A2-1 consisted respectively of A$126 million and A$92.5 million of floating rate notes, both rated AAA by Standard & Poor's and Fitch; tranche A2-2 carried A$55 million of structured notes rated AAAr by S&P and AAA by Fitch; and tranche B, which was subordinated, consisted of A$6.5 million of paper rated AA/AA. Tranches A1 and A2-1 priced at 26 and 36 basis points respectively above the 30-day bank bill swap rate; the prices for the privately placed structured and subordinated tranches were kept confidential.
The lead manager was Macquarie Bank - a first for BoQ, which usually deals through UBS Warburg Australia. It was also the first on which the bank had included a tranche structured to provide investors with a coupon linked to an index.
Macquarie has used the technique in other deals. Details of the index or indices have not been disclosed, although it is understood that the benchmark can be tailored to individual clients' needs. A source at Macquarie said the change in lead manager reflected the "very competitive" market.
