Banca IMI launches first CMBS by an Italian bank since crisis

Italian lender Banca IMI has carried out the first securitisation by an Italian bank since 2007 with the launch of the Tibet CMBS which refinances a loan secured by a shopping complex on Milan's Montenapoleone shopping street.

Banca IMI and Cairn Capital have priced and closed the €203 mln CMBS which includes four tranches with €105 mln of Class A notes due in 2026; €27 mln of Class B notes; €10 mln of Class C and €61 mln of Class D notes.

Tibet CMBS - the first European CMBS to be closed in 2015 - has been placed with European and American institutional investors. Legance Avvocati Associati advised the arranger on legal matters.

Banca IMI fully underwrote the loan, which has a reported loan-to-value ratio (LTV) of 65%. The building is fully owned by Montenapoleone Retail S.p.A., part of Statuto Group, which received it from former owner, Fondo Platone, a closed-end fund in the process of being wound up.

Also in Italy, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is launching a €286 mln multi-borrower securitisation of three Italian loans granted to private equity firms Blackstone, Cerberus and Orion Capital Managers.

The Italian CMBS, dubbed Taurus 2015-1 IT, includes three loans - Globe, Calvino and Fashion District, which are secured by 14 properties split between offices and retail centres with an average loan-to-value of 62.5% and an average occupancy of 87.8%, implying a combined portfolio valuation of €458 mln.

The CMBS, due in February 2027, has four tranches with €206 mln in Class A, €23 mln in Class B, €34 mln in Class C and €23 mln in Class D.

BAML extended the €115 mln Globe five-year loan to Orion to finance the €199 mln acquisition of three Italian shopping centres (Palladio in Vicenza, Emisfero in Fiume Veneto and Emisfero in Monfalcone) from hypermarket group Gruppo Unicomm, which has also provided a five-year rental guarantee for the loan.

The €115 mln Calvino Loan was extended to Cerberus at a cost of 325 basis points over Euribor for a portfolio of five office properties and four telecom assets in Northern Italy and Rome (see also PropertyEU's related story in the link below). Combined, these properties comprise 115,330 m2 of leasable area and are 80.5% occupied as of 30 September 2014.

The €85 mln Fashion District Loan financed Blackstone's purchase of the Molfetta and Mantova Fashion district outlet centres representing 63,000 m2 with a weighted average occupancy of 82.1% as of 30 September 2014. The loan had a cost of 270 basis points over Euribor.