Matheson advised Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch as Arranger and Lead Manager, in relation to the €158.2 million asset backed securities issued by Citizen Irish Auto Receivables Trust 2017 DAC in June 2017. The transaction is a static cash securitisation of car loans (hire purchase contracts and leases) extended to Irish borrowers by First Citizen Finance DAC. The Class A Notes were rated AAA / Aaa by S&P and Moody’s respectively.
The transaction represents the first public securitisation by First Citizen Finance DAC and is understood to be the first AAA / Aaa rated public securitisation of pure auto loans in Ireland.
The transaction was fully documented under Irish law and the securities were listed on the Main Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange.
The portfolio consisted of over 13,000 contracts originated between 2014 and 2017. First Citizen Finance DAC will act as servicer of the portfolio.
The Matheson team providing sole legal and tax advice to Deutsche Bank on the transaction was led by Tax and Structured Finance Partner, Turlough Galvin, Banking Partner, Patrick Molloy, and Structured Finance Associate, Suzanne Lynch.
Commenting on the deal, Turlough Galvin said “we were very pleased to act as legal counsel to Deutsche Bank on this historic deal and to have the opportunity to document the entire transaction under Irish law. We hope that this will lead to more transactions in this space over the coming years.”
This auto loan ABS is the latest in a series of innovative transactions for Matheson which includes advising on the first marketplace lending investment by the European Investment Bank.
