Municipal Bond Investors Assurance Corp. said yesterday that its French subsidiary, MBIA Assurance S.A., has provided a guarantee on the largest structured finance transaction ever sold in Europe.
The 9 billion French franc [$1.5 billion] ATLAS Capital Ltd. transaction also represents the largest single issue ever guaranteed by MBIA or its affiliates, a spokesman said.
ATLAS Capital Ltd. is a special purpose vehicle created to facilitate the restructuring of Comptoir des Entrepreneurs, a French bank.
MBIA Assurance is providing its triple-A backing to the guarantees on the deal issued by five French financial institutions, which are all owned or controlled by the French government: Assurances Generales de France, Credit Foncier de France, Union des Assurances Nationales, Caisse des Depots et Consignations, Union des Assurances de Paris, and Groupe des Assurances Nationales.
The deal is split into two tranches, each worth 4.5 billion French francs. One tranche consists of fixed-rate bonds maturing in 1998; the other is comprised of variable-rate notes also maturing in 1998.
"We are quite pleased to provide our guarantee to such an important financing," said Richard L. Weill, executive vice president of MBIA. "With our guarantee conferring a triple-A rating, the syndication and sale of this transaction proceeded smoothly."
The issue was underwritten by Bankers Trust International PLC.
