OREANDA-NEWS. June 17, 2015. Fitch Ratings has affirmed ALME Loan Funding II Limited as follows:

EUR223.5m class A affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable
EUR40.8m class B affirmed at 'AA+sf'; Outlook Stable
EUR20.6m class C affirmed at 'A+sf'; Outlook Stable
EUR23.3m class D affirmed at 'BBBsf'; Outlook Stable
EUR25.9m class E affirmed at 'BBsf'; Outlook Stable
EUR11.3m class F affirmed at 'B-sf'; Outlook Stable
EUR37m subordinated notes: not rated

ALME Loan Funding II Limited is an arbitrage cash flow collateralised loan obligation (CLO). Net proceeds from the issuance of the notes were used to purchase a EUR374.1m portfolio of European leveraged loans and bonds. The portfolio is managed by Apollo Management International LLP and the reinvestment period is scheduled to end in 2018.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The affirmation reflects the transaction's stable performance. There have been no reported defaults and the transaction is passing all portfolio profile and collateral quality tests. The current portfolio is EUR0.4m above target par and credit enhancement has increased marginally for all rated notes.

Since closing the transaction has increased the minimum weighted average spread from 3.8% to 4% and reduced the minimum weighted average recovery rate from 69.5% to 67.2%. The transaction covenants represent a compliant matrix point and the current levels are within the thresholds. As of 5 May 2015, the weighted average recovery rate was 70.1%, 2.9% above the covenant. The weighted average rating factor and weighted average spread were above their covenants by 0.83% and 0.36%, respectively.

The portfolio is of higher rating quality than the target portfolio but is of lower recovery quality. Assets rated 'BB-' or above represent 19% of the portfolio while assets rated 'CCC' represent less than 1%. Peripheral exposure, defined as exposure to countries with a Country Ceiling below 'AAA', is 8.75% and resides within Italy and Spain. Peripheral exposure is currently 1.25% below the covenant of 10%. There are currently no fixed rate obligations in the portfolio.

RATING SENSITIVITIES
A 25% increase in the expected obligor default probability would lead to a downgrade of up to three notches for the rated notes. A 25% reduction in the expected recovery rates would lead to a downgrade of up to four notches for the rated notes.

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

DATA ADEQUACY
Fitch has checked the consistency and plausibility of the information it has received about the performance of the asset pool and the transaction. There were no findings that were material to this analysis. Fitch has not reviewed the results of any third party assessment of the asset portfolio information or conducted a review of origination files as part of its ongoing monitoring.

The majority of the underlying assets have ratings or credit opinions from Fitch and/or other Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations and/or European Securities and Markets Authority registered rating agencies. Fitch has relied on the practices of the relevant Fitch groups and/or other rating agencies to assess the asset portfolio information.

Overall, Fitch's assessment of the information relied upon for the agency's rating analysis according to its applicable rating methodologies indicates that it is adequately reliable.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION
The information below was used in the analysis.
- Loan-by-loan data provided by U.S. Bank Trustees Limited as at 13 May 2015.
- Transaction reporting provided by U.S. Bank Trustees Limited as at 13 May 2015.

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES
A comparison of the transaction's Representations, Warranties & Enforcement Mechanisms to those typical for the asset class is available by accessing the appendix that accompanies the initial new issue report (ALME Loan Funding II Limited - Appendix dated July 9th 2014 at www.fitchratings.com). In addition refer to the special report "Representations, Warranties, and Enforcement Mechanisms in Global Structured Finance Transactions" dated 26 March 2015 available on the Fitch website.