OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2010. OJSC Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending has successfully placed the first tranche of the Series 4 mortgage-backed bonds, reported the press-centre of Citibank.

Housing mortgage-backed bonds from ZAO "Ipotechnyi Agent AIZhK 2010-1" (hereinafter, the "Bonds") consist of three issues (class A1, A2, and B) backed by single mortgage collateral. Total amount of the three issues is RUB 13.5 bn. A1 class bonds have been placed today. The amount of the issue is RUB 6,096 million. A1 class bonds received an international credit rating Baa1 by Moody’s Investors Service credit rating agency. The bonds also come with a three-year tender offer from AHML. OJSC Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending is the issuer. ZAO Citibank is the lead-arranger.

The placement price for class A1 Bonds was 101% of the face value, which corresponds to the yield-to-maturity of 8.43% p.a. The issue was oversubscribed by more than two times. The bonds were placed among a broad range of the market participants. On the same day, MICEX has recorded Bond transactions at prices that are higher than the placement price. This fact proves that mortgage-backed securities reflecting the innovations made by AHML are once again in demand among the investors and are considered to be very secure instruments.

Successful placement of mortgage-backed AHML bonds after a more than two-year interval has opened the Russian market for mortgage-backed securities and sent an important signal to the investment community.

"This transaction is a precedent for the market. AHML has introduced an innovative structure, including two senior tranches with different duration that ensured high interest among the investors to the Bond placement and made it possible to place all of the first senior tranche bonds at market terms." – announced Alexander Semenyaka, General Director of AHML. "As a development institution, the Agency strives to ensure that there is a broad selection of mortgage-backed securities in Russia that would reflect market realities and appeal to the need of the various investor groups. This placement has demonstrated that this goal is achievable even in current uneasy conditions. AHML will continue working in this direction and introducing new instruments for mortgage assets refinancing."

Zdenek Turek, President of ZAO Citibank that acted as the Sole Arranger of this issue, commented on the successful placement: "The total book closed more than 2 times oversubscribed, and we managed to price the deal at the best end of the initial range for our customer. Citi and AHML were at the origin of the Russian mortgage securities market, and we are very happy to see this market re-open after the crisis."