Industries

Bankers Healthcare Group, affiliated with Pinnacle Financial, is launching into securitization to branch out from its primary strategy of selling its medical-professional loans to community banks.

Bankers had asserted in April that they could handle a slump in oil prices tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Continued volatility, combined with declining collateral values and a rise in bankruptcies for exploration companies, is denting their confidence.

The first-time transaction under Fortress Investment Group's new shelf will be backed by long-term leases on 11 Amazon fulfillment and last-mile distribution centers – three of which remain under construction.

Driven Brands is preparing a $175 million asset-backed securities deal that will provide investors with exposure to a relatively safe industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

For banks with assets between $10 billion and $100 billion, the average exposure is 165% of capital.

But deal sponsors are primarily restricting property assets to the lower risk multifamily and office buildings that lenders are more confident will weather the economic strains brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sellers are currently willing to concede discounts of around 5%, while bidders are hoping for about 20% off pre-pandemic prices. That estimated gap, which is likely wider in specific cases, has put a freeze on deals.

The agency is being methodical in its rollout of the Main Street Lending Program in hopes of avoiding missteps that followed the launch of other coronavirus relief efforts. But observers say delaying aid brings its own risks.

PACE sponsors are raising capital and promoting plans to retroactively fund stalled CRE projects amid the COVID-19 outbreak, giving a potential boost to ABS activity in the space.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are backing the first commercial mortgage-backed securities activity in two months, through two deals that exclude hotel or department store retail assets that are most exposed to pandemic-related stresses.