Securitization

The $975 million transaction will pay down existing notes from prior ABS offerings, as well as prepay certain debt for Jimmy John's, another affiliate of Arby's operator Inspire Brands.

Issuers approved for the program will receive written authority to use "digital collateral" for a limited number of securitizations.

The fitness chain weathered an initial round of COVID-19 closings in March to continue supporting investor payments on $1.8 billion of whole-biz securitization notes. But surging coronavirus spreads in its key markets could force a reversal of gym reopenings, subjecting the bonds to potential downgrades.

The class A notes, secured by legacy trust-preferreds and subordinated debt of institutions, carry an investment-grade A1 rating from Moody's. That rating is slightly lower than a prior Hildene CDO, due to elevated pandemic risk to bank profitability.

The mortgage insurer is receiving $528 million of coverage in the event of defaults in a $44 billion loan pool.

The investment manager has completed phase one of a pilot instituted with tech firm Symbiont, seeking to prove the potential for launching—and closing—asset-backed securities deals via distributed ledgers.

Franchise businesses looked like a safe bet for whole-business securitization bonds before the pandemic made gyms, dine-in restaurants and massages a riskier setting.

S&P lowered the ratings on 23 tranches of notes in the deals, affirmed eight others, and kept the other 40 notes on watch for potential downgrade. Twenty of the downgraded notes are on notice for potential future downgrades, as well.

A $425 million franchise-fee securitization sponsored by TGI Fridays has taken another ratings hit because of the 796-store chain’s increasingly poor financial performance, now magnified by COVID-19 stresses.

About $474M in bonds backed by aircraft leases managed by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has been downgraded, tied to the increasingly poor financial health of several foreign airlines from the COVID-19 shutdown in global air traffic.