Austria: Schoenherr advises Raiffeisen on EUR 538m securitisation of leasing receivables

Schoenherr advised Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) as arranger on a true sale securitisation (ROOF 2021) of a EUR 538m portfolio of vehicle leasing receivables by Raiffeisen Leasing Group. The transaction is designed as a follow-up transaction to the securitisation 'ROOF Leasing Austria', which was successfully signed in 2016 (also with Schoenherr participation). It comprises an even larger volume than the 2016 transaction and is intended to initiate new financings for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-cap companies in Austria in an amount of up to EUR 560m. In this context, the transaction serves in particular as Covid-19 emergency aid and serves to further combat climate change also in the field of mobility. Anchor investors include the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Investment Fund.

"We are proud that we were able to advise RBI on this important transaction", said Schoenherr partner Martin Ebner. "This is another example where we put to work our market-leading expertise in the field of securitisations to the benefit of our clients", adds counsel Matthias Pressler.

The transaction was structured to comply with the rules of the new EU framework for simple, transparent and standardised (STS) securitisations. It is rated by two independent rating agencies. This transaction particularly stands out as it is one of the first STS-compliant securitisation transactions in the Austrian market.

Through this transaction Raiffeisen Leasing Group could successfully achieve its goal of receiving additional sources of funds for the financing of its strategic business area of SMEs and mid-cap companies.

The Schoenherr team advising RBI on the transaction consisted of Martin Ebner (partner), Matthias Pressler (counsel), Philipp Wetter (attorney at law), Michael Schmiedinger (associate) and Marco Thorbauer (attorney at law; tax law).

Clifford Chance (Frankfurt) acted as legal advisor in respect of German law aspects of the transaction.

EIB and EIF were advised by Linklaters (Frankfurt) and Binder Grösswang (Vienna).