Sector developments and company hires

APAC capital advisory formed
Aon has launched an Asia Pacific Capital Advisory unit to deliver a holistic approach to capital optimisation for re/insurers. The initiative follows Aon’s launch of similar units in the UK and US.

At the same time, actuary Seewon Oh has joined the unit from Smartkarma Innovations, where she was an analyst researching the insurance sector across Asia Pacific. In her new role, Oh will focus primarily on rating agency advisory work, while broadening into other areas of client engagement. She will report to Rupert Moore, Aon’s ceo of Japan for reinsurance solutions.

Moore comments: “The goal of Capital Advisory is to help clients achieve capital efficiency either by accessing alternative or traditional capital, or through identifying opportunities that make better use of existing capital, while taking into account cost and returns. This in turn helps them to generate better returns on common equity.”

Liquidity reverse lease offer launched
PKO Leasing is launching the first liquidity reverse lease offer on the Polish market. Under the EIF’s COSME-Covid guarantee, the company will allocate PLN500m to support the financial liquidity of SMEs. The offer targets owners of passenger cars weighing up to 3.5 tonnes that are clients of PKO Leasing and PKO Bank Polski. Through the leasing transaction, they can recover the funds spent on the purchase of the vehicle with the possibility of its further use. The terms under the offer include an active leasing contract or a company account for a minimum of six months.

Merger hits leverage ratios
REIT Simon Property Group's (SPG) revised merger agreement to acquire an 80% stake in mall operator Taubman Realty Group would likely weaken SPG's aggregate and secured leverage ratios, according to Moody’s. The companies have agreed a revised price of US$43 per share (versus US$52.50) to conclude pending lawsuits brought after the merger became contested in February.

Moody’s observes that the new acquisition cost would lower SPG’s common equity investment by US$675m to slightly above US$3bn. The REIT will also own US$363m of TCO's preferred stock.

“The leverage metrics would likely weaken, given Taubman's capital structure, but would also depend on SPG's yet to be announced funding plan,” the agency says.

However, it notes SPG’s sound liquidity position provides significant financial flexibility. Consequently, the merger is not expected to affect the REIT's ratings or outlook.

Optigo approval granted
CRE specialist Sabal Capital Partners has been approved by Freddie Mac as an Optigo Conventional Mortgage lender. The Freddie Mac Optigo core multifamily loan products now offered by Sabal include debt solutions in fixed-rate, float-to-fixed and floating-rate. To start, Sabal will focus primarily on meeting mid-tier loan demand, where needs are currently underserved and the lender’s platform efficiencies will prove beneficial.