OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has affirmed five classes of notes issued by Kingsland VII, an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) managed by Kingsland Capital Management LLC. A complete list of rating actions follows at the end of this release.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The affirmations are based on the stable performance of the underlying portfolio since the last review in May 2015, the sufficient credit enhancement available to the notes, and the cushions available in Fitch's cash flow modelling results. As of the February 2016 report, the transaction continues to pass all coverage tests and collateral quality tests. Fitch's cash flow analysis also indicates each class of notes is passing all nine interest rate and default timing scenarios at or above their current rating levels.

The loan portfolio par amount plus principal cash is approximately $479.4 million, compared to the balance of $475.7 million at the last review, resulting in increased credit enhancement levels. The weighted average spread (WAS) of the portfolio is currently at 4.5% relative to a minimum WAS trigger of 4.2%. The portfolio (excluding principal cash) is invested in 96.2% senior secured loans and 3.8% second lien loans, and approximately 90.3% of the portfolio has strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned Recovery Rating of 'RR2' or higher.

Fitch considers 7.2% of the collateral assets to be rated in the 'CCC' category, according to Fitch's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) Equivalency Map, versus 3.7% of the loan portfolio in the last review. Of the 7.2% 'CCC' concentration, approximately 2.0% does not have a public rating or a Fitch credit opinion.

In addition to one defaulted issuer from Essar Steel Algoma Inc. as reported by the trustee, there was an additional default from Peabody Energy Corp. that took place in April 2016 with a combined aggregate exposure of 1.2% of the portfolio, including principal cash. The performing portfolio remains in the 'B/B-' range.

The Stable Outlook on each class of notes of Kingsland VII reflects the expectation that the notes have sufficient levels of credit protection to withstand potential deterioration in the credit quality of the portfolio.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
The ratings of the notes may be sensitive to higher than expected asset defaults, significant negative credit migration, and lower than historically observed recoveries for defaulted assets. Fitch conducted a rating sensitivity analysis on the closing date of Kingsland VII, incorporating increased levels of defaults and reduced levels of recovery rates, among other sensitivities.

The transaction remains in its reinvestment period, which is scheduled to end in July 2018.

This review was conducted under the framework described in the report 'Global Rating Criteria for CLOs and Corporate CDOs' using the Portfolio Credit Model (PCM) for projecting future default and recovery levels for the underlying portfolio. These default and recovery levels were then utilized in Fitch's cash flow model under various combinations of default timing and interest rate stress scenarios, as described in the report. The cash flow model was customized to reflect the transaction's structural features.

Initial Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivity are further described in the New Issue Report published on July 10, 2014.

A comparison of the transaction's Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms (RW&Es) to those of typical RW&Es for that asset class is available by accessing the reports and links indicated below

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE
No third party due diligence was reviewed in relation to this rating action

Fitch has affirmed the following ratings:
--$297,000,000 class A notes at 'AAAsf; Outlook Stable
--$48,500,000 class B notes at 'AAsf; Outlook Stable
--$21,500,000 class C notes at 'Asf; Outlook Stable
--$17,750,000 class D notes at 'BBBsf; Outlook Stable
--$21,500,000 class E notes at 'BBsf; Outlook Stable

Fitch does not rate the subordinated notes.