DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Port Funding 1 DAC

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) assigned the following provisional ratings to the Senior Funding Facility (SFF) and the Mezzanine Funding Facility (MFF; together, the Facilities) of Port Funding 1 DAC (the Borrower):

-- SFF rated A (sf)
-- MFF rated BBB (low) (sf)

The rating on the SFF addresses the timely payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal payable on or before the Scheduled Maturity Date in September 2030. The rating on the MFF addresses the ultimate payment of interest and the ultimate payment of principal payable on or before the Scheduled Maturity Date in September 2030. These provisional ratings shall only be finalised once the aggregate principal balance of the assets (based on committed trades) in the warehouse has reached EUR 65 million (as per Clause 6.3 (d) of the Warehouse Deed) and all Collateral Quality and Portfolio Profile Tests are in compliance. The warehouse documents were executed on 20 September 2017.

The Borrower is a designated activity company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Ireland. The warehouse transaction is set up as a cash flow securitisation, which will be collateralised by a portfolio of leveraged loans and high-yield bonds subject to Collateral Quality and Portfolio Profile Tests.

As of 26 September 2017, the transaction portfolio consisted of no collateral obligations and the Borrower will start to draw on the Facilities based on a predetermined schedule as trades settle. Upon each drawing request, the Collateral Manager (CM) will ensure that certain tests are in compliance on an asset-traded balance. As the trades settle in the warehouse portfolio, under the drawing schedule, Barclays Bank PLC (Barclays; Senior and Mezzanine Lender; rated “A” with a Stable trend by DBRS) will continue to fund the Facilities upon the Borrower’s request. In its analysis, DBRS has considered the Senior and Mezzanine Lenders’ ability to fund the Facilities, and it will continue to monitor the transaction as part of ongoing surveillance.

The warehouse has a 24-month ramp-up period followed by an amortisation period. The warehouse will reach its maturity date at the earlier of the Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLO) Closing Date or other date determined by the CM where final payment on the collateral is received by the Borrower or September 2030.

Under the Warehouse Deed, upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default (EOD), the Collateral Agent may be directed by the Instructing Investor (as defined in the Warehouse Deed referred to above) to sell or otherwise dispose of the collateral as a remedy, which could disadvantage the MFF. One of these EODs is the Unsubordinated Mark-to-Market (MtM) Ratio being less than or equal to 110.0% (the MtM Coverage EOD). If left uncured for five business days, the Instructing Investor may be able to liquidate the transaction while the MFF is still performing, and the MFF will not be able to block such liquidation or be required to be taken out in full as a test for such liquidation. Thus the rating assigned to the MFF are subject to additional downgrade risk and/or default for non-payment.

Additionally, an early maturity date can be caused by a Mandatory Early Redemption Date or an Optional Early Maturity Date (no earlier than 12 months after the reinvestment period end date) or at the sole option of the Instructing Investor (Barclays) following an EOD. Under the Warehouse Deed, upon an occurrence of (and during the continuation of) an EOD, the Instructing Investor (Barclays) may, in its sole option, elect to liquidate the portfolio, which could adversely affect the Mezzanine Lender and potentially affect ratings volatility on the MFF.

Other than an EOD, warehouse redemption can only occur if certain tests are satisfied. Subject to the consent of the Senior and Mezzanine Lender, there could potentially be deficiency in the payment of ultimate principal if such options were exercised prior to the maturity of the warehouse. DBRS will continue to monitor the transaction.

Elavon Financial Services Designated Activity Company will act as the Account Bank, and the CM will operate the Bank Accounts. Per the transaction documentation, if the rating of the Account Bank is either withdrawn or downgraded below “A,” such entity must be replaced within 30 calendar days by a financial institution with a DBRS public rating of “A.”

DBRS conducted an operational review of the CM’s operations for CLOs in September 2017 in New York. The objective of the operational review was to assess the adequacy of the CM’s infrastructure and internal processes used to support investment decisions and portfolio monitoring. DBRS considers the origination and servicing practices of the CM to be consistent with current market practices as a whole.

DBRS has analysed a covenant matrix structure where the total warehouse notional amount will be up to EUR 400 million with equity notional of EUR 50 million. The first drawing point in a post-pricing scenario is expected to have total capitalisation of EUR 210 million, which constitutes an SFF size of EUR 165 million, an MFF size of EUR 5 million and remaining equity of EUR 40 million. In pre-pricing scenarios, as the equity size gradually increases to EUR 40 million from EUR 5 million, the MFF size can be increased or reduced to provide credit enhancement to the SFF. In post-pricing scenarios, both SFF and MFF increase in size, and the relative credit enhancement decreases. As the size of the capital structure increases, Collateral Quality Tests such as the DBRS recovery rate, weighted-average (WA) spread and WA coupon also change. The maximum notional amount of the warehouse in the post-pricing scenario would be up to EUR 400 million, which constitutes an SFF size of EUR 317 million, an MFF size of EUR 43 million and remaining equity of EUR 40 million.

DBRS used the publicly available CLO Asset Model to determine a lifetime pool default rate at the required rating levels for each drawing point. The CLO Asset Model takes key covenants of the portfolio to create a stressed modelling pool for each level of the drawing schedule based on the covenants. The CLO Asset Model employs a Monte Carlo simulation to determine cumulative default rates (or hurdle rates) at each rating stress level. Break-even default rates on the Facilities were determined in accordance with DBRS’s “Cash Flow Assumptions for Corporate Credit Securitizations” methodology.

For the underlying collateral analysis, DBRS will either use (1) its own publicly available ratings of each obligor; (2) where such ratings are not available, DBRS will use publicly available obligor ratings from other nationally recognised statistical rating organisations; or (3) if no public ratings are available, information provided to DBRS from the CM to complete the Credit Estimate. Such Credit Estimates will be used to continuously monitor the transaction.

The ratings of the Facilities are based on DBRS’s review of the above-mentioned factors and the following analytical considerations:

-- The transaction structure, the form and sufficiency of available credit enhancement and portfolio characteristics. Most of the Portfolio Profile Tests are set at a portfolio notional amount of EUR 400 million at all times, and DBRS created stressed modelling pools for its analysis based on these covenants.
-- The transaction parties’ financial strength and capabilities to perform their respective duties and the quality of origination, underwriting and servicing practices.
-- An assessment of the operational capabilities of key transaction participants.
-- The ability of the transaction to withstand stressed cash flow assumptions and repay lenders according to the terms of their investment. Interest and principal payments on the Facilities will accrue and are payable quarterly.
-- The soundness of the legal structure, the presence of legal opinions that address the true sale of the assets to the Borrower, the non-consolidation of the Borrower and consistency with DBRS’s “Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions” methodology.

Notes:
All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.

The principal methodology applicable to the rating is “Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit.”

DBRS has applied the principal methodology consistently and conducted a review of the transaction in accordance with the principal methodology.

An asset and a cash flow analysis were both conducted. Due to the inclusion of a reinvestment period in the transaction, the analysis is based on the worst-case replenishment criteria set forth in the transaction legal documents.

Other methodologies referenced in this transaction are listed at the end of this press release.

These may be found on www.dbrs.com at: http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies

For a more detailed discussion of the sovereign risk impact on Structured Finance ratings, please refer to the DBRS commentary “The Effect of Sovereign Risk on Securitisations in the Euro Area” found at http://www.dbrs.com/industries/bucket/id/10036/name/commentaries.

The sources of data and information used for this rating include the Borrower, the CM and the Senior and Mezzanine Lender.

DBRS did not rely upon third-party due diligence in order to conduct its analysis.

DBRS considers the data and information available to it for the purposes of providing this rating to be of satisfactory quality.

DBRS does not audit or independently verify the data or information it receives in connection with the rating process.

This rating concerns newly issued financial instrument. This is the first DBRS rating on this financial instrument.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

This rating was not initiated at the request of the rated entity.

The rated entity or its related entities did participate in the rating process. DBRS had access to the accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity or its related entities.

Information regarding DBRS ratings, including definitions, policies and methodologies, is available on www.dbrs.com.

For further information on DBRS historical default rates published by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in a central repository, see http://cerep.esma.europa.eu/cerep-web/statistics/
defaults.xhtml.

Lead Analyst: Leila Manii, Assistant Vice President
Rating Committee Chair: Jerry van Koolbergen, Managing Director
Initial Rating Date: 26 September 2017

The rating methodologies used in the analysis of this transaction can be found at:
http://www.dbrs.com/about/methodologies

-- Rating CLOs and CDOs of Large Corporate Credit
-- Legal Criteria for European Structured Finance Transactions
-- Cash Flow Assumptions for Corporate Credit Securitizations
-- Unified Interest Rate Model for European Securitisations

A description of how DBRS analyses structured finance transactions and how the methodologies are collectively applied can be found at: http://www.dbrs.com/research/278375