Eversholt Funding Plc (EFP), the new whole business securitization program issued by HSBC Bank’s Eversholt Rail Group, is looking to launch a multi-currency senior secured bond program.
EFP’s proposed notes are guaranteed by European Rail Finance Holdings and all other group entities except for Eversholt Rail. Fitch Ratings has assigned the offering a senior secured rating of ‘A-‘.
HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Scotland have started road-showing the deal beginning next week, according to published reports.
Currently HSBC owns the Eversholt Group, although completion of its sale to new owners — Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Fund, 3i Infrastructure and Star Capital Partners — is expected to occur at the same time with the securization. As a result, the ratings on the deal are based on the stand-alone financing features of the Eversholt Group.
“This U.K. [Rolling Stock Cos. (ROSCO)] benefit from a solid fundamental demand trend, significant barriers to entry, high contract retention and fleet utilization rates, sound counterparty-credit quality – but with some counterparty concentration — and regulatory support,” said Josef Pospisil, senior director in Fitch’s EMEA corporates team. “The Eversholt Group benefits from its focus on electric trains, generally mid-life fleets when compared to its ROSCO peers and low historical fleet switching.”