OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings expects to assign the following rating to Dryden Senior Loan Fund/LLC:

--$379,000,000 class A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable

Fitch does not expect to rate the class B, C, D, E, F, or subordinated notes.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

Dryden 40 Senior Loan Fund (the issuer) and Dryden 40 Senior Loan Fund LLC (the co-issuer) together comprise an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that will be managed by Prudential Investment Management, Inc. Net proceeds from the issuance of the secured and subordinated notes will be used to purchase a portfolio of approximately $600 million of primarily senior secured leveraged loans. The CLO will have a five-year reinvestment period.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) of 36.8% for the class A notes, in addition to excess spread, is sufficient to protect against portfolio default and recovery rate projections in an 'AAAsf' stress scenario. The level of CE for class A notes is slightly above the average for recent CLO issuances.

'B+/B' Asset Quality: The average credit quality of the indicative portfolio is 'B+/B', which is slightly better than that of recent CLOs. Issuers rated in the 'B' rating category denote relatively weak credit quality; however, in Fitch's opinion, the class A notes are unlikely to be affected by the foreseeable level of defaults. The class A notes are robust against default rates of up to 59.4%.

Strong Recovery Expectations: The indicative portfolio consists of 96.6% senior secured loans, of which 90.4% have strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned Recovery Rating of 'RR2' or higher and the base case recovery assumption is 77.1%. In determining ratings for the class A notes, Fitch stressed the indicative portfolio by assuming a higher concentration of assets with lower recovery prospects and further reduced recovery assumptions for higher rating stresses resulting in a 35.9% recovery rate assumption in Fitch's 'AAAsf'.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Fitch evaluated the structure's sensitivity to the potential variability of key model assumptions, including decreases in recovery rates and increases in default rates or correlation. Fitch expects the class A notes to remain investment grade even under the most extreme sensitivity scenarios. Results under these sensitivity scenarios ranged between 'A-sf' and 'AAAsf' for the class A notes.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

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

The publication of a Representations, Warranties and Enforcement Mechanisms appendix is not required for this transaction.