Fitch Rates ALESCO Preferred Funding III, Ltd./Inc.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2004 Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. assigns the following ratings to ALESCO Preferred Funding III, Ltd./Inc. (ALESCO III) as listed below: -- $160,000,000 class A-1 senior secured floating-rate notes Floating-rate note (FRN) Note whose interest payment varies with short-term interest rates. floating-rate note An unsecured debt issue with an interest rate that is reset at specified intervals (usually every six months) according to a due May 1, 2034 'AAA'; -- $70,000,000 class A-2 senior secured floating-rate notes due May 1, 2034 'AAA'; -- $40,500,000 class B-1 mezzanine mez·za·nine n. 1. A partial story between two main stories of a building. 2. The lowest balcony in a theater or the first few rows of that balcony. secured floating-rate notes due May 1, 2034 'A-'; -- $63,500,000 class B-2 mezzanine secured fixed/floating-rate notes due May 1, 2034 'A-'. The ratings on the class A-1 and A-2 notes, (collectively, the class A notes) address the likelihood that investors will receive timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal by the stated maturity Stated maturity For the CMO tranche, the date the last payment would occur at zero CPR. date. The ratings on the class B-1 and B-2 notes, (collectively, the class B notes) address the likelihood that investors will receive ultimate payment of cumulative interest and ultimate payment of principal by the stated maturity date. Periodic payments on the notes will be paid quarterly starting in July 2004. The assets of ALESCO III, a bankruptcy-remote special-purpose corporation, consist of a $350,000,000 million diversified diversified (di·verˑ·s portfolio of trust preferred securities and bank subordinated notes. The underlying obligors are all FDIC-insured commercial banks and thrifts. The portfolio is diversified geographically (largest region equals 29%), and by obligor The individual who owes another person a certain debt or duty. The term obligor is often used interchangeably with debtor. obligor (ah-bluh-gore) n. (maximum obligor concentration does not exceed 2.86%). The average size of the underlying issues is $7.61 million. The ALESCO III portfolio is a fully funded, static portfolio of assets. There are two overcollateralization (OC) tests and two interest coverage (IC) tests that will trap cash to bring the test back into compliance any time a test is failing. Cash trapped through any OC or IC test failure will be used to pay down the most senior notes outstanding. Placement agents for this transaction are Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. , Pierce Pierce may refer to: Places
For more information on Fitch's approach to rating CDOs of trust preferred securities, see the special report, 'Rating Criteria for Bank and Trust Preferred CDOs', dated July 31, 2002 and also available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'. |
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