Pepper announces 4th RMBS since June

Pepper Group has announced that it has successfully issued a planned $750 million worth of bonds – Pepper Residential Securities (PRS) 28 – backed by Australian mortgages on 10 November.

The latest transaction has followed the lender’s pricing of a $1.1 billion securitisation in October, a $1 billion residential mortgage-backed securitisation (RMBS) deal in August and a $700 million pricing of bonds backed by Australian mortgages in June.

Pepper’s PRS program comprises a mix of non-conforming and prime mortgages.

National Australia Bank (NAB) acted as the arranger for the latest deal, while the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac and Macquarie Bank acted as joint lead managers.

Commenting on the transaction, the lender’s Australian CEO, Mario Rehayem, said: “I’d like to recognise the ongoing efforts of the Pepper team who have accomplished four RMBS transactions, totalling $3.55 billion, in under six months.”

“This result underscores Pepper’s strong reputation and capacity in the capital markets, which enables us to further support everyday Australians looking for a real alternative to achieve their lending goals.”

While the transaction did not require support from the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), Mr Rehayem expressed his appreciation for the AOFM’s willingness to participate in the transaction, as well as their support of the securitisation markets.

Speaking about the RMBS deal, Pepper Group treasurer Andrew Twyford said: “The performance of the RMBS markets in 2020 has seen us materially improve execution across each of the three non-conforming transactions from our PRS platform completed in 2020.”

“The continued strong demand saw all tranches well sought after and Pepper is excited to once again welcome the new investors to our program while appreciating the ongoing support of our existing domestic and global investor base.”

The transaction is scheduled to settle on 19 November.

[Related: Pepper issues $750m PRS]

Malavika Santhebennur is the features editor on the mortgages titles at Momentum Media.

Before joining the team in 2019, Malavika held roles with Money Management and Benchmark Media. She has been writing about financial services for the past six years.