Fitch Ratings expects to assign the following rating and Rating Outlook to Dryden 37 Senior Loan Fund/LLC:
--$320,000,000 class A notes 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable.
Fitch does not expect to rate the class B, C, D, E, or F notes, or the subordinated notes.
TRANSACTION SUMMARY
Dryden 37 Senior Loan Fund (the issuer) and Dryden 37 Senior Loan Fund LLC (the co-issuer) represent an arbitrage cash flow collateralized loan obligation (CLO) that will be managed by Prudential Investment Management, Inc. (Prudential). Net proceeds from the issuance of notes will be used to purchase a portfolio of approximately $500 million of leveraged loans. The CLO will have a four-year reinvestment period.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
Sufficient Credit Enhancement: Credit enhancement (CE) of 36% for class A, in addition to excess spread, is sufficient to protect against portfolio default and recovery rate projections in the 'AAAsf' stress scenario. The level of CE for the class A notes is below the average for recent CLO issuances.
'B+/B' Asset Quality: The average credit quality of the indicative portfolio is 'B+/B', which is slightly better than that of recent CLOs. Issuers rated in the 'B' rating category denote relatively weak credit quality; however, in Fitch Ratings' opinion, the class A notes are unlikely to be affected by the foreseeable level of defaults. The class A notes are robust against default rates of up to 57.0%.
Strong Recovery Expectations: The indicative portfolio consists of 96.3% first-lien senior-secured loans. Approximately 83% of the indicative portfolio has either strong recovery prospects or a Fitch-assigned recovery rating of 'RR2' or higher, resulting in a base case recovery assumption of 76.2%. In determination of the class A note rating, Fitch stressed the indicative portfolio by assuming a higher portfolio concentration of assets with lower recovery prospects and further reduced recovery assumptions for higher rating stress assumptions. The analysis of Dryden 37 class A notes assumed a 34.7% recovery rate in Fitch's 'AAAsf' scenario.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Fitch evaluated the structure's sensitivity to the potential variability of key model assumptions including decreases in weighted average spread or recovery rates and increases in default rates or correlation. Fitch expects the class A notes to remain investment grade even under the most extreme sensitivity scenarios. Results under these sensitivity scenarios ranged between 'A-sf' and 'AAAsf' for the class A notes.
The expected ratings are based on information provided to Fitch as of Jan. 29, 2015. Sources of information used to assess these ratings were provided by the arranger, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and the public domain.
Key Rating Drivers and Rating Sensitivities are further detailed in the accompanying presale report, available at 'www.fitchratings.com' or by clicking on the link.
Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
Applicable Criteria & Related Research:
--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (Aug. 4, 2014);
--'Global Rating Criteria for Corporate CDOs' (July 25, 2014);
--'Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds' (Dec. 19, 2014);
--'Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds' (May 14, 2014).
Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Dryden 37 Senior Loan Fund/LLC
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=861208
Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=754389
Global Rating Criteria for Corporate CDOs
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=753057
Criteria for Interest Rate Stresses in Structured Finance Transactions and Covered Bonds
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=838868
Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds
http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=744158
Additional Disclosure
Solicitation Status
http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=978867
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