The European market did a good job of breathing some life into the summer pipeline. Last week's flurry of CMBS deals pricing contradicts earlier predictions of a virtual market shutdown.
Two U.K.-originated CMBS deals offered investors a hefty serving of sterling-denominated paper and some repose from the euro/dollar-dominated markets of late. Underwriters priced the refinancing deal for the U.K. Ministry of Defence, Annington Finance No.4. The transaction offered investors a total of GBP665 million (US$1.2 billion) of single-A rated, Class B floating-rate notes along with GBP260 million (US$475 million) of fixed-rate single-A minus notes pricing over Gilts.
Also pricing last week was the Morgan Stanley-led Morpheus deal from the bank's EloC series of deals. It's the first multi-borrower diversified deal out of the EloC program and third to price so far this year. Sandwell Commercial Finance No. 1 - one of the earlier multi-borrower CMBS deals to price this year - saw its triple-A notes price at 22 basis points over. Based on the positive performance these deals have exhibited, the market largely expected favorable pricing in the triple-A notes of the ELoC deal, which came in at 23 basis points over three-month Libor. The transaction securitized a pool of 443 commercial mortgage loans secured on 901 U.K. properties.
Eurohypo's London branch packaged a GBP550 million (US$1 billion) CMBS deal dubbed Opera Finance that it began marketing at the beginning of last week. The transaction will be issued through co-managers Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley. The deal is comprised of GBP410 million (US$748 million) of triple-A rated notes; a GBP62 million (US$113 million) double-A rated piece; and GBP18 million (US$32 million) of single-A notes. It is backed by one commercial mortgage loan that is secured on one of the six super-regional shopping centers in the U.K. The deal is lacking
a Moody's Investors Service public
rating for both the Class B and C tranches and could, as a result, see the transaction pay a premium over CMBS deals that have closed recently, said market sources.
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