Backed by small-to-medium enterprise loans, the deal will settle on Sept. 10
Liberty Financial has successfully priced its Liberty Series 2024-1 SME securitisation, marking the firm’s 82nd term deal.
The transaction, backed by small-to-medium enterprise (SME) loans, raised $900 million after being upsized from an initial volume of $500 million due to strong investor demand.
National Australia Bank (NAB) acted as sole arranger, with the major bank joined by Deutsche Bank, and Westpac Banking Corporation as joint lead managers. The deal is Liberty’s 13th SME securitisation, bringing its total SME-backed issuance to $6.8 billion.
The notes issued are rated by Moody’s Investors Service. The $585 million Class A1 notes, rated Aaa(sf), have a weighted average life of approximately 2.5 years and were priced at a margin of 130 basis points (bps) over the one-month bank bill swap rate (BBSW). The A$180 million Class A2 notes, also rated Aaa(sf), carry a weighted average life of about 3.7 years and priced at a margin of 160bps over one-month BBSW.
Pricing for the subordinated Class B, C, D, E, and F notes, rated Aa2(sf), A2(sf), Baa2(sf), Ba2(sf), and B1(sf) respectively, was not disclosed.
The underlying portfolio comprises SME mortgages with a weighted average loan-to-value ratio of 61% and an average seasoning of 21 months. The transaction is set to settle on Sept. 10.
“Liberty is a leader in providing households and small businesses with the freedom to choose from a wide range of products and services to meet their financial needs,” said Peter Riedel (pictured above), chief financial officer at Liberty. “We are grateful for the support investors have extended to our business.”
The non-bank lender holds a strong rating from Standard & Poor’s for its servicing of commercial and residential mortgages as well as auto loans. It is also the only non-bank issuer in Australia with an investment-grade rating of BBB, outlook stable, by S&P, and has never experienced a ratings downgrade or charge-off in its securitisation program.
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