OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned the following rating and Rating Outlook to Galaxy XXI CLO, Ltd./LLC.

--$259,000,000 Class A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.

Fitch does not rate the class B, C, D, E-1, E-2, or F notes or the A or B subordinated notes.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

Galaxy XXI CLO, Ltd. (the issuer) and Galaxy XXI CLO, LLC (the co-issuer) together comprise an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that will be managed by PineBridge Investments LLC (PineBridge). Net proceeds from the issuance of the secured and subordinated notes will be used to purchase a portfolio of approximately $400 million of primarily senior secured leveraged loans. The CLO will have an approximately four-year reinvestment period and a two year non-call period.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) of 35.3% for the class A notes, in addition to excess spread, is sufficient to protect against portfolio default and recovery rate projections in a 'AAAsf' stress scenario. The degree of CE available to the class A notes is lower than the average CE of recent CLO issuances; however, cash flow modeling indicates performance in line with other 'AAAsf' CLO notes.

'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 a highly speculative credit quality; however, in Fitch Ratings' opinion, class A notes are unlikely to be affected by the foreseeable level of defaults. Class A notes are projected to be able to withstand default rates of up to 58.6%.

Strong Recovery Expectations: The indicative portfolio consists of 96.7% first-lien senior secured loans. Approximately 88.8% of the indicative portfolio has either strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned recovery rating of 'RR2' or higher and the base case recovery assumption is 78.5%. In determining the class A note rating, Fitch stressed the indicative portfolio by assuming a higher portfolio concentration of assets with lower recovery prospects and further reduced recovery assumptions for higher rating stresses, resulting in a 39.1% recovery rate in Fitch's 'AAAsf' scenario.

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.

Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivities are further described in the accompanying new issue report, which will be available shortly to investors on Fitch's website at www.fitchratings.com'.

DUE DILIGENCE USAGE

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