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U.S. primary ABS market springs into action with $13.6 billion in issuance

From start to finish, the ABS market had an ambitious week, as dealers rushed to get deals out the door before a long, if not leisurely, weekend. The market produced a respectable $13.6 billion in new issuances by press time.

"I would think you would see May [issuance] increasing week upon week," said one trader, who though the issuance last week showed signs for solid May production numbers.

Four deals totaling about $6 billion in issuance hit the market on Monday alone. The franchise loan sector made an appearance, with DUNKN 2006-1 pricing a $1.6 billion deal. Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Securities shared the lead manager role on that deal, whose pricing against swaps commanded a spread as high as 300 basis points. In the card sector, MBNA America Bank tapped the ABS market for $2.5 billion in capital, using Bank of America Securities as lead manager. The one-tranche deal, called MBNAS 2006-A4, priced at one basis point under the one-month Libor.

Merrill Lynch acted as lead manager on a $943 million home equity loan deal, through its Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors Trust 2006-RM2. The senior, one-year tranche offered three basis points over the one-month Libor, while the four-year junior tranche came in at 205 basis points over. Meanwhile, Citigroup Global Markets priced its $1 billion home equity loan deal, using its Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust. The deal saw tight pricing throughout the structure, with the one-year tranche coming in at four basis points over the one-month Libor and the four-year tranche pricing at 19 basis points over the benchmark.

Citigroup also put together a $2 billion credit card deal, called Citibank Credit Card Issuance Trust 2006-A6, which priced at just one basis point over the one-month Libor.

For most of the week, home equity loan deals dominated the issuance calendar. JPMorgan Mortgage Acquisition Corp. Trust 2006-CW1 priced an $864 million home equity loan deal. The one-year tranche on that deal came in at four basis points over the one-month Libor, while the most junior piece offered the most opportunity for spread pickup, with 185 basis points over.

Aside from turning in more solid numbers, the asset-backed securitization market delivered several deals that resembled plans for a road trip. The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Trust completed it second deal this year, an $800 million transaction via JPMorgan and ABN AMRO. The deal combined EDSF and swaps as benchmarks and achieved what appeared to be tight pricing throughout. The senior tranche came in at a basis point below the EDSF, and the three-year piece priced at 22 basis points over swaps. Marriott Vacation Club Owner Trust chimed in with a $250 million deal, on which Credit Suisse and Citigroup Global Markets acted as co-leads.

Continuing a recent trend of strong issuance activity, the student loan sector saw ALG Student Loan Trust, 2006-1 come up with a $1 billion transaction via RBC Capital Markets. Goldman Sachs and RBS Greenwich Capital acted as co-managers. Also, the Access Group Student Loan Trust completed a $1 billion securitization, via Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities.

(c) 2006 Asset Securitization Report and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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