Structured Credit Partners (SCP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Securities, is ramping up a $500 million real estate collateralized debt obligation for pricing in the middle of next month, says a CDO market participant. Wachovia will be the underwriter for the deal. Mark Adamson, CDO syndicate head at Wachovia in Charlotte, declined to comment. Price talk was not available at press time last Thursday. The notes will be backed by a diversified pool of collateral--60% of which will be REITs and 40% commercial mortgage-backed securities. Called Crest 2003-1, this is the eighth "Crest" deal issued since the program began in 2000. Crest stands for "Commercial Real Estate Structured Transaction."
Because the deal is backed by a static pool of assets and not actively managed, SCP acts as collateral administrator or servicer, rather than a collateral manager. One of the implications is that the deal will be fully ramped-up at closing. After closing, SCP will only be able to sell, not buy assets.