DBRS Ratings Limited Assigns Provisional Ratings to Volta Electricity Receivables Securitisation

DBRS Ratings Limited (DBRS) has today assigned provisional ratings of BBB (high) (sf) to the Senior fixed rate notes to be issued by TAGUS – Sociedade de Titularização de Crédito, SA (the “Notes”). The Notes are backed by a pool of Portuguese electricity tariff receivables recognised under Portuguese Laws and originated by EDP - Serviço Universal, S.A. (“EDP SU”).

The above mentioned ratings are provisional. Final ratings will be issued upon receipt of execution version of the governing transaction documents. To the extent that the documents and information provided by EDP - Serviço Universal, S.A. and by its agents to DBRS as of this date differ from the executed version of the governing transaction documents, DBRS may assign different final ratings to the Notes or may avoid assigning final ratings to the Notes altogether.

The ratings are based upon review by DBRS of the following analytical considerations:

• The legal structure, the assessment of a satisfactory legal and regulatory framework and presence of legal opinions addressing the existence, validity and assignment to the issuer of the assets.
• The consistency with the DBRS “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” and the DBRS methodology “Rating Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations”.
• The transaction parties’ financial strength and capabilities with regards to their respective roles.
• The transaction parties’ capabilities with respect to originations, servicing and financial strength.
• The credit quality of the collateral and ability of the Servicer to monitor collections activities on the collateral.

Note:
All figures are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodologies applicable are:
• Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions;
• Rating Portuguese Electricity Tariff Securitisations; and
• Unified Interest Rate Model for European Securitisations

These can be found on dbrs.com under Methodologies. For a more detailed discussion of sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to DBRS commentary “The Effect of Sovereign Risk on Securitisations in the Euro Area”.

The sources of information used for this rating include EDP - Serviço Universal, S.A. and its agents. DBRS considers the information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating was of satisfactory quality.

This is the first DBRS rating on this financial instrument.

This is a newly created financial instrument.

For additional information on this rating, please see the linking document.

Ratings assigned by DBRS Ratings Limited are subject to EU regulations only.

Lead Analyst: Paolo Conti
Back-up Analyst: Bruno Franco
Rating Committee Chair: Charles Weilamann
Initial Rating Date: 13 May 2013