Sector developments and company hires

CQS portfolio refinanced
AnaCap Financial Partners has acquired and refinanced a portfolio of salary and pension guaranteed loans (CQS) with a face value of over €200m. Originated by a large Italian bank, these loans were initially securitised in 2016. In July 2019, AnaCap acquired the equity in the securitisation and in June 2020 it exercised its right to acquire the underlying assets. Benefitting from over six years of seasoning, the portfolio is highly diversified and comprises more than 28,000 CQS loans.

Direct lending platform formed
Apollo Global Management has formed Apollo Strategic Origination Partners, which is expected to provide approximately US$12bn in financings over the next three years, targeting transactions of approximately US$1bn to help meet growing corporate demand for scaled direct origination solutions. The partnership is anchored by Mubadala Investment Company and certain permanent capital vehicles managed by Apollo. The firm believes there is meaningful demand for financing solutions that sit between its middle-market direct lending platform, MidCap Financial, and the broadly syndicated loan market. It intends to continue building out its large corporate direct origination capabilities in partnership with its global institutional investor base.

North America
Partner Keith Brandofino and Counsels Maximiliano Rinaldi and David Mignardi have joined Thompson & Knight’s New York office as part of its real estate and banking group. The trio joins the firm from Kilpatrick Townsend in New York. Brandofino’s experience spans various real estate and banking matters involving loan servicing and CMBS. Rinaldi’s expertise includes representing creditors in matters related to non-performing commercial loans and leases, while Mignardi has expertise in litigation and loan servicing matters dealing with CMBS.

OATH 2 announced
UK Mortgages has issued a call notice stating that it intends to redeem the outstanding notes of the Oat Hill No. 1 RMBS on the next IPD in August. The transaction was originally intended to be refinanced on the first optional redemption date and previous IPD in May, but the company was unable to complete the refinancing at that time due to the ongoing disruption from Covid-19 (SCI 28 May). Further, the company notes that spreads have retraced to such an extent that a full securitisation is now possible and therefore it has announced Oat Hill No. 2, a public securitisation refinancing the Oat Hill No. 1 portfolio. Santander has been mandated as sole arranger and joint lead, along with BofA Securities and Standard Chartered.