Anthracite Capital Europe CDO 2006-1
After months of market speculation about who would launch the first European commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation, it was BlackRock that finally rolled out the €342 million ($436.8 million) deal, led by Morgan Stanley, in late November 2006. Anthracite Euro CRE CDO 2006-1 packaged up an assortment of mezzanine CMBS tranches as well as subordinated 'B' and 'C' loans and was watched closely by both CDO and CMBS market participants. The deal, whose assets were concentrated in the U.K. and Germany, helped establish a framework and was seen by officials as pioneering in a sector of the market where sourcing collateral was seen as a major obstacle to issuance.
Harbourmaster Pro Rata II CLO
Harbourmaster Pro Rata II CLO was the first cash pro-rata CLO in Europe, and also pioneered an unusual multi-currency revolving credit facility. Sized at €587.5 million ($750.8 million), its collateral comprised mainly senior secured European leveraged loans, including revolving and delayed draw facilities. The manager was Dublin-based Harbourmaster Capital and Bank of America was the arranger. Tosh Burns, co-head European origination and structuring, Brian Ratner, head of EMEA syndicates and Charles Hand, head of EMEA CLOs, played key roles in the transaction.
Jazz III CDO
The €2.3 billion (€1 billion and $1.7 billion) Jazz III CDO, which closed in August, was the largest corporate CDO of 2006. Its size allowed it access to a unique base of investors, with distribution spanning 20 countries. Led by Merrill Lynch (arranging bank), IXIS (co-lead and CDS counterparty), and Rabobank (liquidity bank), the deal primarily invested in single-name investment-grade credit default swaps, loans, bonds, asset swaps and/or total return swaps. The deal also included a small bucket of structured finance. Allen & Overy's team of Benjamin Tan, Yvonne Siew, Annie Wilson, Jessica Green, Daniel Hill and Mathieu Vignon were counsel to the underwriter.
ROOF CEE 2006-1
A €450 million ($614 million) synthetic balance sheet CLO underwritten by Dresdner Kleinwort and RZB Austria, this transaction was backed by Czech and Polish small-to-medium enterprise and corporate loans. Closing in March 2006, it was also the largest central and eastern European securitization and the first CEE multiseller and multi-jurisdictional deal.