Linklaters advises AUTO1 Group on first public securitisation of a multi-country portfolio in Europe
Linklaters has advised AUTO1 Group on its second public securitisation of car instalment purchase agreements, which was successfully placed with investors. As part of the ‘FinanceHero 2’ transaction, car instalment purchase agreements from Germany and Austria were combined into a single portfolio totaling €249 million.
The cross-border securitisation of instalment purchase agreements with a multijurisdictional portfolio represents a significant innovation in the European securitisation market. Driven by strong demand, the transaction was 3.6 times oversubscribed, and achieved an average interest rate of one-month Euribor plus 87 basis points across all tranches. FinanceHero 2 includes AAA-rated senior notes and has obtained the Simple, Transparent and Standardised (STS) lable verified by STS Verification International GmbH.
“We are delighted to have supported AUTO1 on this innovative transaction. The combination of similar assets from different jurisdictions unlocks deep and efficient refinancing opportunities in the public capital markets that we already know from the private securitisation market – but also has its challenges when it comes to ratings,” said Jördis Heckt-Harbeck, partner in Linklaters’ structured finance practice.
AUTO1 Group is a leading digital platform for the purchase, sale and financing of used cars. Founded in 2012 and based in Berlin, the company operates the AUTO1.com trading platform for dealers, wirkaufendeinauto.de and the Autohero retail brand for consumers, and is active in more than 30 countries.
Last year, Linklaters advised AUTO1 on its first successful public securitisation on the capital markets, with a volume of €223 million. The international team was led by structured finance experts Barbara Lauer and Jördis Heckt-Harbeck.
The Linklaters team for the FinanceHero 2 transaction was led by Jördis Heckt-Harbeck (Partner, Capital Markets, Frankfurt). Other team members included Barbara Lauer (Partner, Capital Markets), Christian Storck (Partner, Capital Markets), Michael Deane (Managing Associate, Capital Markets), Dr. Ulrich Johann (Counsel, Tax), Arthur Weilert (Associate, Tax), Helena Obenheimer (Senior Transaction Lawyer, Capital Markets), Alexander Dill (Transaction Lawyer, Capital Markets; all Frankfurt) and Nicki Kayser (Partner, Capital Markets), Anna Christina Görgen (Consultant, Capital Markets), Angelo Hyka (Associate, Capital Markets), Charlène Aplogan (Associate, Capital Markets), Daniele Buchler (Partner, Tax), Adrien Piron (Managing Associate, Tax; all Luxembourg), Mees Roelofs (Partner, Banking, Amsterdam), Hugo van der Molen (Counsel, Capital Markets, Amsterdam), Akrit Anand (Associate, Capital Markets, Amsterdam).
