The Mizuho Securities structured credit team is set to price its first collateralized debt obligation next week, a $1.5 billion CDO of asset-backed securities, since it joined from Calyon in December (CIN, 12/15). Alex Rekeda, head of structured credit, Americas, declined to comment about the portfolio. It is expected to price a $600 million CDO squared either Feb. 26 or 27. The managers of the two portfolios could not be determined. Mizuho currently has five other warehouses open, including other CDOs of ABS and collateralized loan obligations.
Along with the team from Mizuho that started in December, the firm hired Justin Mazula on the trading side from Bear Stearns and Shaurav Data from the law firm Greenberg Traurig. Mazula and Data both started the week of Jan. 23. Rekeda said the firm will be looking to add one more trader and two more structurers as soon as possible.
In mid-December, Rekeda said the group had three of those warehouses opened and had planned to have three more open before Christmas. He stressed they were all warehouses with managers Calyon had never worked with. The team did not bring any of Calyon's deals with it (12/15).
To fill that void, Calyon brought over a group from London to temporarily work in the U.S. Edouard Bremond, head of European cash CDO structuring, was among those that came over. He was working with Zain Abdullah, managing director and head of U.S. credit markets and CDOs (12/15). In late December, Calyon hired David Perry as head of U.S. synthetic structuring from Barclays Capital reporting to Abdullah. A call to a Calyon spokeswoman was not returned.