Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich (RZB) closed its 318 million ($492 million) securitization of Italian leases.
Italian leasing company Raiffeisen-Leasing, four Raiffeisen Landesbanken locations (Tyrol, Salzburg, Styria and Carinthia) and A-Leasing S.p.A. originated the deal.
A-Leasing is an Italian leasing company offering the full range of leasing products with a geographical focus on Northern Italy. Its client base is primarily composed of SMEs.
BNP Paribas and Finanziaria Internazionale co-managed the deal with RZB. An SPV named A-Leasing Finance S.r.l., which is incorporated under the laws of Italy, issued four classes of notes to refinance the warehousing transaction. This was used to fund the purchase of a portfolio of financial lease receivables originated by A-Leasing.
"This deal represents one of the few securitization transactions successfully placed with investors under current market conditions" said Patrick Butler, member of the board responsible for treasury and global markets at RZB. "It underlines our ability to execute large scale transactions despite the current risk-aversion. Strong distribution and the quality of the securitized portfolio are responsible for this success."
The transaction is the first securitization for A-Leasing and will support the further expansion of its activities in the Italian market. "Accessing the securitization rounds out our funding strategy and this deal will be followed by others," said Antonio Mazzer, managing director of A-Leasing.
