Equipment leasing ABS in Europe has been propelled forward this month. On March 5, UK lender Propel priced a landmark trade: the first to mix both hard assets, like machinery, and soft assets, such as phones and laptops, and the first UK deal to qualify for a ‘simple, transparent and standardised’ stamp.
All the evidence suggests that non-bank lenders are enjoying a ratcheting rise in their market share, as banks pull back from the sector. Securitization has stepped up as a facilitator of that rise, as illustrated by the number of recent debutants in the ABS market.
That’s a win for securitization in an environment in which politicians are looking for more ways to boost the SME sector and improve European competitiveness.
Having public ABS deals also makes it easier to argue that securitization channels funding into crucial parts of the real economy. And they show how the considerable transaction costs involved in doing such deals have a direct knock-on to SMEs’ costs of funding.
Non-banks aren’t the only ones having fun! Crédit Agricole entered last week’s double-digit pipeline and priced a reoffered 2025 leasing trade, triple-As only.
Syndicate bankers now have the unenviable task of shepherding the rest of the pre-Easter pipeline in a compressed timeline after losing a few days to the volatility caused the first joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran. It seems like it’s going to be a squeeze.
If that wasn’t enough to keep market participants busy, the conference season is gathering pace. On this week’s podcast, George Smith shares some reflections from last week’s SuperReturn event by informa.
George and Tom Hall will be at FT Live’s SRT event on Wednesday, and Tom will be heading to Amsterdam next week for Outvie’s Securitisation Event. Reach out to book a meeting!
