7 March 2008 - Gide Loyrette Nouel London advises on the €800 million securitisation of the Fraikin Group:

The London office of Gide Loyrette Nouel has closed the first monoline securitisation since the credit crunch of August 2007. The bonds have been rated AAA/Aaa. 
 
Gide Loyrette Nouel represented the arrangers Calyon (lead arranger), Bank of Scotland and CIC on a €800 million whole business securitisation for the Fraikin Group (“Fraikin”), Europe’s leading truck leasing and fleet management company. Until December 2007 Gide also represented co-arrangers JP Morgan Securities Limited. The deal enabled the partial take-out of CVC Capital Partners’ bridge acquisition financing from its February 2007 takeover of Fraikin and to establish a five-year, €250 million credit facility to enable Fraikin to continue to grow its fleet.    

Significantly the deal involved a monoline wrap, the first since the credit crunch of last year. Prior to August 2007 monoline wraps were a near universal feature of such complex deals. Following the credit crunch, as banks lost confidence in monoline insurers, there was a collapse in the market.  

To counter this Gide Loyrette Nouel and Calyon introduced novel contractual and tax structuring features that had a positive impact on the ‘borrowing base’ mechanism with a correlative decrease in the level of credit enhancement required by the monocline insurer and the rating agencies. Gide Loyrette Nouel also acted for MBIA UK Insurance Limited, the monoline insurer.

Gide Loyrette Nouel London partner Patrice Doat, commented:  “Bringing this deal to a successful conclusion was a ‘little miracle’. This was the first securitisation of its type to close since difficulties arose on the markets in the summer of 2007. This was a unique, twelve month marathon deal combining a great number of parties and novel complex contractual and tax structuring. It is an excellent reflection of Gide’s cross-border, multi-party capabilities.”  

Gide Loyrette Nouel’s Paris office also advised on aspects of the transaction.