Asset Backed Bonds Successfully Placed for VW Leasing
Asset backed bonds continue to be highly popular. Today the issue of VCL No. 6 with a total volume of € 1 billion was successfully placed with investors under the lead management of WestLB AG. The issue will be used to finance the acquisition of a leasing portfolio of VW Leasing GmbH. Order books were closed early due to the issue being several times oversubscribed. Investor interest was particularly strong in France and Great Britain. Co-managers were ABN Amro, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland.
The issue is the sixth securitisation of German lease agreements of Volkswagen Leasing GmbH. The securitisation involved a representative portfolio consisting primarily of new vehicles (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda). Two tranches were placed in the market: class A notes worth € 935 million rated Aaa(Moody´s) and AAA (Standard & Poor´s) with interest at 1-month Euribor plus 11 basis points and class B notes worth € 30 million rated A1 (Moody´s) and A+ (Standard & Poor´s) with a coupon of 35 basis points over 1-month Euribor. The spreads of the two tranches are at the lower end of the price range and are among the tightest in recent years in a securitisation of automotive receivables. A further privately placed € 35 million are subordinated and serve as collateral for the two senior tranches.