Mexico's Scotiabank Inverlat is poised to inaugurate auto-loan backed deals on the south side of the Rio Grande. Confirming the buzz that circulated last month, the bank has a mandate for originator Servicios Financieros Navistar, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S.-based Navistar International Corporation (see ASR 8/9, p.1). The program is set at Ps1.1 billion ($95 million), with a debut transaction of Ps500 million, according to a source on the deal. Timing is for October, as the shelf has not been submitted to regulators yet.
Instead of being auto loans per se, the collateral is actually comprised of truck and bus loans. Mexican state development bank Nacional Financiera is expected to provide a partial guaranty of no less than 17% of the Class A notes, which will make up 96% of total issuance. Moody's de Mexico has given the deal a preliminary rating of Aaa.mx' on the national scale. Standard & Poor's is heard rating the deal as well. While all the loans in the underlying pool initially carried fixed rates, about 41% will eventually reset to a floating rate of 6% over the benchmark TIIE.
In another first for the Mexican peso market, housing finance company Patrimonio has registered a Ps2 billion shelf for securitizing bridge loans for construction, territory that is well trodden by peer companies Su Casita, Metrofinanciera, Credito y Casa and Nacional. While Patrimonio has issued naked commercial paper, it has been securitization-shy until now. The lead manager of the program, Multivalores, is also new to ABS. The originator and bank are apparently building on a relationship developed in the CP market, according to a source familiar with Patrimonio. The inaugural deal off the shelf will have a senior/sub structure, resembling bridge-loan backed transactions issued by Nacional.
Based in the bustling industrial city of Monterrey, Patrimonio was upgraded by Fitch Ratings in May to BBB+(mex)' on the national scale from BBB(mex).' The ratings boost was prompted by the improved quality of its asset base - which includes mortgages as well as bridge loans - and greater geographic diversification.
Also down the pike is a toll road transaction from first-ever issuer Autopistas de Guerrero, an originator operating in the southeastern Mexican state of the same name. Details on the size have yet to surface, but the tenor is 15 years, according to a prospectus registered with the Mexican Securities Exchange. The lead manager is Interacciones, which has arranged transactions for the state of Guerrero. Legal counsel is Valencia del Toro.
The originator is a subsidiary of Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo and operates a road that provides access to a hotel strip in Acapulco known as the "Diamond Tip." Like other toll road operators in Mexico, Autopistas de Guerrero was derailed in the recession following 1994. But aside from the 1995-1998 period, vehicular traffic on the road has grown every year since 1992. A chunk of the deal's proceeds is earmarked to pay down a Ps185 million loan owed to state owned bank Banobras.
Elsewhere in the market, two structured transactions priced in late August. Carreteras de Cuota Puebla issued a 15-year deal for 151.7 million inflation indexed units (UDIS) ($45 million) at 6.4%, at the wider end of price talk. Led by Santander, the deal was oversubscribed by 1.6 times and went primarily to pension funds, with insurance companies trailing behind. The deal marks Banobras' entry into the enhancement business, having provided a 53% partial guaranty. Fitch and S&P rated the deal triple-A on the national scale. Protego Asesores structured the transaction and Mijares, Angoitia, Cortes & Fuentes was legal counsel.
Also in Mexico, conglomerate Xignux issued a Ps1 billion, four-year deal at 310 basis points over one month TIIE. ABN AMRO and Banorte arranged the transaction, which carried a 26% guaranty from Dutch development bank the FMO. Apart from the surety, the transaction was plain vanilla.
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