IIG Issues $220M Trade Finance CLO

Specialty lender the International Investment Group (IIG) has issued a $220-million securitization of trade finance loans to obligors in Latin America in the agriculture and commodities sectors.

The deal follows a high-profile $1 billion deal called Trade MAPs from Citi and Santander and a $132 million transaction called Lighthouse Trade Finance from BNP Paribas last summer.

In a press release IIG said Deutsche Bank Securities structured and arranged the deal.

The deal focuses on small and medium-sized businesses. “The [Collateralized Loan Obligation] space is a natural extension of our trade finance business and we are very happy to be working with the Deutsche Bank team on this new securitization product,” said Martin Silver, Co-Managing Partner and Co-Founder of IIG Trade Finance.

The shop indicated that this was the first of many “issuances.” The deal consists of $110 million in a senior tranche; $77 million in a B piece; and $33 million in “Income Notes,” presumably an equity tranche.

The release did not mention a rating. An official at IIG said they could not yet comment on further details.

The deal comes as the business of trade-finance securitization seems poised to pick up steam. Regulations — namely, Basel III — are a big catalyst, for banks at least, to get trade finance facilities of their books. Investors, for their part, are attracted to the low-risk, short-term character of these loans.