A rare Austrian securitization of auto leases is set to hit the streets in the coming weeks. Erste Bank's leasing subsidiary, EBV Leasing, will roll out the E220 million deal via Lehman Brothers, only the second such deal to come from Austria, says Rupert Schoder, analyst at Moody's Investors Service in Paris. Calls to Michael Brown, the banker on the deal at Lehman, were not returned.
The deal, called Edelweiss, will be the first Austrian securitization to feature a revolving structure, whereby funds collected from the leaseholders will be held by EBV Leasing to purchase new assets. The only other auto lease securitization out of Austria was completed by Porsche Bank in 2001. Porsche is planning another deal in 2004 (BW, 12/10).
