17 August, 2004 Legal news, law news, law firm news & research from LAWFUEL Allen & Overy advised Eurohypo AG London, as structurer and arranger of a £550m commercial mortgage backed securitisation of the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex. The transaction was only the second Opera deal from Eurohypo and was very different from the first which was a portfolio CMBS. The deal involved the refinancing of the Centre’s existing debt and included an additional £100m A/B note structure which provided further debt capacity in the Borrower (CSC Lakeside Limited) without affecting the rating of the senior public debt (which has tranched into AAA/AA and A(+)).

The Allen & Overy team was led by securitisation partner Christian Lambie assisted by associates Vanessa Hardman, Bryant Morris and David O’Connor, and by banking partner Mark O’Neill, assisted by associate Alexander Aitken.

Commenting on the operation, Christian Lambie stated:
“The CMBS conduit lending market continues to provide additional armoury for borrowers and lenders, who can access a wide investor base to obtain CMBS funding at capital markets rates, but be documented with all the familiarity of a conventional bank loan. Even the A/B note structure sits behind the core lending relationship.”