Stonebriar Commercial Finance announced the closing of SCFET 2018-1, a $578 million asset-backed securitization transaction. It marks the fourth equipment securitization transaction Stonebriar has closed in the last 24 months and its first to secure triple-A ratings.

SCFET 2018-1 is secured by a portfolio of commercial equipment loans and leases across a variety of asset classes including rail, aviation, marine transportation, energy, real estate and manufacturing. The A-1 and A-2 tranches of the transaction received ratings of “Aaa” and “AAA” from Moody’s Investors Service and Kroll Bond Rating Agency, respectively.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as Sole Structuring Agent and Joint Bookrunner. Credit Suisse and Goldman, Sachs & Co. also served as Joint Bookrunners. Stonebriar will continue to service the assets, with US Bank as backup servicer.

"Since June 2016, Stonebriar has executed four equipment securitization transactions totaling over $1.6 billion, attracting significant demand from a diverse group of domestic and international institutional investors,” said Dave B. Fate, President and CEO of Stonebriar. “SCFET 2018-1 is our most successful to date, delivering the most cost-effective, long-term financing we have achieved thus far. We continue to expand the SCFET investor base with a mix of repeat and new investors across the capital structure.
 
“SCFET 2018-1 included assets from four of Stonebriar’s current business platforms – General Equipment, Aviation Capital, Rail Leasing and Real Estate – including a portion of our Canadian portfolio. Continued strong performance and an increasingly diversified collateral pool were key factors in securing triple A ratings and is a testament to Stonebriar’s ability to build and manage a high-quality portfolio.”